Netanyahu’s new demands complicate potential hostage exchange, cease-fire with Hamas: Media

By Mustafa Deveci

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heightened his demands as discussions between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian group Hamas resumed regarding a new cease-fire and hostage exchange in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Friday.

According to Israel's Walla website, Netanyahu has set stringent conditions for the cease-fire and hostage exchange agreement.

Last week, as negotiations resumed between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage exchange agreement, Netanyahu introduced new conditions. One of the most notable conditions concerned Gaza's border with Egypt and the Rafah border crossing, it said.

Netanyahu proposed that Israel maintain control over Gaza's Egyptian border, referred to as the Philadelphi Corridor, and asserted that Israeli forces should oversee the remaining part of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side.

The Israeli prime minister also expressed opposition to allowing “Hamas members” to return to northern Gaza, even in the event of a cease-fire.

Netanyahu also argued that any cease-fire and hostage exchange agreement in Gaza should ensure Israel's right to resume attacks until the war's objectives are achieved.

"Netanyahu has made these tough demands in an effort to maximize gains from negotiations, leveraging Hamas's vulnerabilities. However, there is a concern that pushing too hard could lead to the collapse of the talks," an unnamed Israeli official told Walla.

So far, efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas's call to halt hostilities.

Israel has killed more than 38,300 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas. The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Israel is also accused of committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave, and a case is continuing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi