What Price Does Netanyahu Fear from a Deal with Hamas?

Haaretz reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement, stating that Israel will not adhere to a ceasefire and complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, has made advancing the deal with Hamas more challenging.

Israeli sources estimate that while progress can be made on the outline of the deal, it may come at the cost of dissolving the governing coalition.

According to foreign sources familiar with the negotiations, the United States and intermediary countries place “great importance” on the summit meeting to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, in Qatar.

The meeting will include Mossad Director David Barnea, CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel.

According to the newspaper, the intermediaries are waiting to hear from the Mossad Director about Israel’s flexibility on the disputed terms and whether Israel now has any practical proposals to allow progress on the deal in light of the Israeli Prime Minister’s announcement.

Key Points of Disagreement

The main disagreement concerns Hamas’s demand for a complete ceasefire and the end of the war, the identity of the Palestinian prisoners to be released, whether Israel will have veto power over this matter, and the prevention of militants moving from the southern to the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli sources indicated that “the problem is the inability to reach an agreed detailed outline for the deal at the present time because Netanyahu realizes that he will not have a government afterward if he goes for the agreement.”

According to the newspaper, Netanyahu’s statements have not helped advance the negotiations; on the contrary, they have deepened the distrust between the parties and made it difficult for them to advance talks on the negotiations.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said in a statement from his office: “The plan we agreed upon and welcomed by (U.S. President Joe) Biden will allow Israel to bring back the hostages without compromising other war objectives.”

He added, “Any agreement (with Palestinian factions) will allow Israel to resume fighting (later) until all war objectives are achieved.”

Israeli-Egyptian Talks in Cairo

Meanwhile, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar led a security delegation to Cairo on Monday to address the implications of the agreement and Hamas’s demand for Israeli military withdrawal from the Rafah Crossing and the Philadelphi Route.

According to the newspaper, “Israel is discussing with Egypt how to operate the Rafah Crossing, apparently through officials not affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, and how it would be possible to monitor the Philadelphi Route to prevent it from being used as a weapons smuggling route into the Gaza Strip.”

The Egyptian and Israeli sides are also considering building an underground barrier and installing sensors to prevent tunnel digging or weapons smuggling.