This comes despite the proposal being very similar, or almost identical, to the one previously presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff and accepted by Tel Aviv, which called for the release of 10 living prisoners and 18 bodies in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire during which negotiations would be held to end the war.
Tel Aviv estimates there are 50 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 10,800 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to human rights reports.
"Israel's policy is firm and unchanged. It demands the release of all fifty abductees, in accordance with the principles set by the security cabinet to end the war," Netanyahu's office said in a statement carried by the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday. "We are in the final stage of defeating Hamas, and we will not leave any abductees behind."
Earlier today, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said the proposal accepted by Hamas was "almost identical" to the one previously accepted by Israel, and expressed hope that Tel Aviv would provide a "positive and swift" response.
For its part, the privately owned Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth described Netanyahu's office's statement as "vague and ambiguous," saying that the statement "does not completely close the door to a partial deal, but it certainly suggests that Israel is currently rejecting the mediators' new proposal."
She added: "Since Hamas' response reached Israel yesterday evening (Monday), Netanyahu has held consultations with the negotiating team, but he has not yet met with the security and political cabinet, which is scheduled to convene only on Thursday."
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Qatar: Hamas' response to the Gaza ceasefire is positive and almost identical to what Israel previously accepted.
She continued: "It is not unlikely that the statement in which Israel demands the release of all fifty kidnapped individuals is an attempt to flex its muscles in order to extract more flexibility from Hamas's positions."
On Monday, Hamas confirmed its approval of a proposal put forward by the mediators, without providing further details.
However, the Broadcasting Authority reported on Monday that it is "very similar to Witkoff's original proposal, which calls for the release of 10 living prisoners and 18 bodies in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and negotiations to end the war."
Hamas has repeatedly declared its willingness to release Israeli prisoners "in one batch" in exchange for an end to the war of annihilation, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners. However, Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice, has evaded the offer by proposing new conditions, including the disarmament of Palestinian factions, and is currently insisting on reoccupying Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving 62,064 Palestinians martyred, 156,573 injured, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 266 people, including 112 children.
