وسط خلافات مع القيادة السياسية.. الجيش الإسرائيلي: يجب إبرام الصفقة الآن

Amid the disagreements between politicians and the military, the Israeli occupation army is pressuring the political leadership to conclude a prisoner exchange agreement, even if it is partial.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the army leadership feels that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ignoring its professional stance, warning that the entry of army forces into the city of Gaza could lead to the death of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The army believes that a partial deal could give the forces additional time to reorganize and address some issues in their weapon systems.

It added that the Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, and representatives from the military leadership have made it clear to the political leadership that they see the necessity of leveraging the pressure tools that the army has achieved for a deal to release the prisoners, even if it is partial.

The report mentioned that within the army leadership, there are criticisms that the political leadership has not yet utilized the pressure tools that the army has achieved, such as the occupation of Rafah and pushing the residents of the Gaza Strip southward, in order to secure the release of the prisoners. The army emphasizes the need to exhaust the opportunity to conclude a deal now before proceeding with a large-scale operation like the occupation of the city of Gaza.

The newspaper quoted sources familiar with the discussions stating that Netanyahu confronted army officers in several meetings, saying that their concerns are "exaggerated," but within the security establishment, they remind that the occupation of Rafah has already led to the deaths of soldiers and hostages without resulting in the release of any prisoner. The army leadership feels that Netanyahu is ignoring its professional recommendations.

According to what Zamir presented, a partial deal could provide the army with additional time to reorganize and address issues in some of their weapon systems. The Chief of Staff informed the ministers that his assessment has not changed, stating that entering the city of Gaza could lead to the deaths of hostages and would make it impossible to locate some of them even if they were killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a meeting of the political-security cabinet tomorrow evening, Tuesday, to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations in the coming days and to consider the military operation for the occupation of Gaza.

Netanyahu had directed to initiate immediate negotiations for the release of all prisoners and to end the war on terms acceptable to Israel.

The newspaper added that so far, Netanyahu has not publicly responded to the question of whether he supports the formula that Hamas agreed upon last week, or whether he is willing to proceed with the deal even at the cost of ending the war, halting the new military operation in Gaza, and the potential collapse of the current government coalition.