![Demonstrators, holding banners and photos of prisoners, block the Ayalon Highway to demand a hostage swap deal and the dismissal of the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 27, 2024. [Matan Golan - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/AA-20240627-34987721-34987708-PROTESTERS_BLOCK_THE_AYALON_HIGHWAY_TO_DEMAND_HOSTAGE_SWAP_DEAL_AND_DISMISSAL_OF_NETANYAHU_GOVT_IN_TEL_AVIV.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Members of the Israeli negotiating team for the ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip and the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas have sharply criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of deliberately making statements to thwart the negotiations.
Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan 11 last night quoted officials who are taking part in the talks as saying that “Netanyahu’s statements are intended to sabotage the negotiations. There is no other explanation.”
“The prime minister knows that we are at a critical point where we are working to find solutions to the issue of the Philadelphi and Netzarim axis before the next round of talks, and he knows that there is progress. Despite this, he issues statements that contradict what was agreed upon with the mediators.”
According to a source familiar with the details of the meeting between Netanyahu and the families of the hostages held in Gaza and the relatives of soldiers killed in the Strip, Netanyahu said that “Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances, despite the great pressure.”
In response to the criticism, Kan 11 quoted people close to Netanyahu as saying that “anyone who does not like the way the prime minister is conducting the negotiations is invited to get up and leave.”
Despite the great tension between the parties, sources in the negotiating team said that the members of the negotiating team, consisting of the heads of the security services, have no intention of giving up their positions “at this critical stage of the negotiations.”
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Major General Nitzan Alon, who is tasked by the army with the negotiations file, did not join the Israeli delegation that held talks in Cairo over the past two days.
Alon justified this by saying that “there is no point given Netanyahu’s lack of flexibility on the issue of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor.” He said behind closed doors: “If there is no flexibility on this fundamental issue, there is no point in going to Egypt.”
Channel 13 suggested that the round of talks scheduled for the end of this week in Cairo with the participation of Mossad chief David Barnea will be postponed until “there is progress in the talks,” and reported that “so far, there is no progress that would justify holding a summit of this kind.”
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