By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the conditions necessary for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza are “becoming ripe.”
The conditions of an anticipated hostage swap deal with the Palestinians “are becoming ripe, for the simple reason that we are putting very strong pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with the families of the Israeli captives in Gaza, ahead of an official visit to Washington.
The Israeli premier also noted that the deal “will not take place all at once; there will be stages.”
“I am not prepared in any way to give in on the victory over Hamas. If we give up on this, we will be in danger in the face of Iran's entire axis of evil,” he alleged.
Hamas is believed to have been holding around 120 Israeli captives following its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Israelis have been staging protests to demand the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
The Palestinian resistance group demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage swap with Tel Aviv.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt have failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire that allows a prisoner swap between Israelis and Palestinians.
So far, efforts by the three countries to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Over 39,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 90,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala