A senior Israeli official confirmed that negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas are still ongoing, although no breakthrough has been achieved so far.
The official told Yedioth Ahronoth that military and diplomatic pressure had failed to dissuade the movement from its core demands, most notably guarantees of a complete cessation of hostilities.
Despite Hamas's rejection of the latest US proposal, known as the "Witkoff Plan," the United States and Qatar continue their attempts to bridge the gap, amid a general feeling in Israel that the talks are at a dead end. The Israeli official said, "We haven't lost hope. Efforts are being made, but there's no progress so far."
Tel Aviv believes that Hamas will not back down from its main demand for an end to the war. It continues to demand the release of 20 prisoners in the first phase of the deal, and written guarantees from Washington that Israeli military operations will not resume after the agreement is implemented. Israel, in contrast, rejects these conditions and insists on continuing its military operations in Gaza, believing that relinquishing this right would undermine its strategy of pressuring Hamas.
US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, attempted to advance negotiations during the Eid al-Adha holiday but failed to persuade Hamas to soften its terms. Despite this, Witkoff remains optimistic, affirming his full commitment to reaching an agreement, describing the task as a "personal matter" for him.
Israeli sources say that Hamas is showing verbal flexibility, but in practice, it is sticking to its positions, particularly regarding the duration of the deal's implementation. Hamas is demanding that the prisoner release be extended over 70 days, rather than the one week proposed by the US plan.
For its part, Hamas said in a statement yesterday that "Israel's escalation of military operations is exacerbating its losses and pushing its prisoners into the unknown," reiterating its commitment to the need to reach a comprehensive deal that would end the war once and for all, a proposal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected.
In this context, the United States and Qatar, along with Egypt, continue their mediation efforts, but there are no signs that the two sides are approaching common ground, given the intransigence of their positions and the ongoing battles on the ground in the Gaza Strip.
