Channel 12 journalist Yaron Avraham on Tuesday explained the obstacle Hamas set to a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal, and the real reason for the lack of progress.
Regarding the disagreements between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Avraham said, "Regarding the deal itself, and the tensions between Netanyahu and Gallant, on one thing - to my understanding - they agree, at least."
This agreement, he continued, is "about a situation in which, between stage 1 and stage 2, the negotiations will be stretched like bubblegum, without any ability to find a loophole in that and return to fighting. I think they both agree completely [on this]."
Avraham explained, "There is a logic to this - if we continue the negotiations and do not reach agreements, most of our hostages are in the hands of Hamas, and that's without discussing our international legitimacy, which will be at zero, because the US will act as a guarantor, [insisting] that the negotiations need to continue."
"Therefore, Israel cannot agree to this condition. There is progress on the one hand from Hamas, which says, 'I am not demanding an early end to the war,' but we need to say truthfully, [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar has acted very cunningly, he is attacking the problem from its other end, and simply turning around the timetable and tying Israel into a very problematic place."
However, he added, "I agree that Israel could show a lot more creativity, a lot more activeness, to propose other wordings, which did not happen on Friday. Israel only passed its opposition to this section. Let's hope that this will happen in the coming days."