Israeli President Isaac Herzog stressed that the time is right to conclude a prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli government and the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

"I reiterate my call to the Israeli leadership, the mediators and the world that this is the right time to conclude a hostage deal," Herzog said.

Maariv reported that "the Israeli president confirms that behind-the-scenes negotiations are underway to reach a swap deal and believes that it is possible."

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for an end to the war in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal to return the Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance.

In the same context, the families of the Israeli prisoners said that the way to return their sons in Gaza is through ending the war there as part of a deal.

The Prisoners' Families Authority added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich want to establish settlements on the heads of Israeli prisoners in Gaza.

The Authority pointed out that Netanyahu is the one who is obstructing and rejecting the exchange deal.

The Palestinian resistance captured more than 200 Israeli settlers and soldiers in Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa on October 7, with the aim of exchanging them for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in the occupation's prisons.

The occupation killed many of its prisoners in the raids it launched on the Gaza Strip, while dozens of them were released in a partial deal carried out through Qatari mediation a year ago.

According to reports, the Palestinian resistance still holds 100 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 149,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.