Hundreds demonstrate in Tel Aviv to demand prisoner exchange with Palestinian factions

JERUSALEM

Hundreds protested Thursday in downtown Tel Aviv, “calling for a prisoner swap deal,” according to Israeli Channel 12.

Protesters carried banners at the “The Last Chance” march, signaling that they believed it to be the final opportunity for a prisoner exchange.

Negotiations to secure a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and facilitating a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas resumed Thursday in Qatar.

No statements have been released by Qatar, the US or Egypt regarding the start of the talks. Details about the framework and timeframe for the negotiations have not been disclosed.

The talks, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, bring together high-level representatives, including the heads of US and Egyptian intelligence, and Israeli officials led by Mossad Chief David Barnea.

Hamas said Wednesday, however, that it will join the cease-fire and hostage swap talks if it gets a clear commitment from Israel on the implementation of US President Joe Biden-backed proposal.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Typically, communication with Hamas occurs through Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who relay messages between the group and Israel during indirect negotiations.

Hamas is insisting on ending the war in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes as part of any prisoner exchange deal.

Based on recent statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, however, four main issues need to be resolved to finalize an agreement.

Netanyahu’s office emphasized the need Tuesday for a mechanism to prevent armed Palestinians from crossing the Nitsarim Crossing from central Gaza to the north.

Israeli negotiators have told reporters in recent weeks that the condition to establish a mechanism for inspecting Palestinians complicates reaching a deal.

Netanyahu's second condition is for Israel to maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor (Salah al-Din axis) and the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has been under Israeli control since May.

The third concerns knowing the number of Israeli prisoners still alive in Gaza, who would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons, while Hamas claims there are around 115 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, with more than 70 reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes.

The proposed agreement would involve the release of a limited number of “alive or dead” Israelis, but Netanyahu insists on the release of mostly living captives and wants Israel to receive a list of names in advance.

The fourth condition is for Israel to retain the right to reject the release of specific Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants freed and to deport released prisoners outside of Palestine -- a condition Hamas rejects.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed more than 40,000 victims, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,400, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 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 (ICJ), which ordered it 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 Mohammad Sio