Hamas delivers a "positive" response to mediators, and a stormy cabinet meeting on the exchange deal.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced Friday evening that it had submitted its response to the ceasefire proposal in Gaza to mediators after completing internal consultations with Palestinian factions and forces. Hamas confirmed that the response was "positive" and that it was "seriously prepared to immediately enter into negotiations on the implementation mechanism."

For his part, an Israeli official told Channel 12 that "after Hamas's response, indirect talks will begin between the two sides," anticipating that an Israeli delegation would travel to Doha to negotiate the terms of the agreement.

The official added that these negotiations "may not take more than a day and a half."

Israeli media also reported that the security cabinet is scheduled to discuss the prisoners' file and the situation in Gaza tomorrow, Saturday. They noted that yesterday's meeting witnessed tensions that reached the level of shouting matches between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

Israel's Channel 13 quoted unnamed sources as saying that the tension at the cabinet meeting was over the next steps in Gaza if a ceasefire agreement is not reached.

She added that the Chief of Staff informed Netanyahu and the meeting participants that the Israeli army cannot control two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The source reported that Netanyahu shouted at Zamir, saying, "The blockade of Gaza is effective because occupying it completely puts soldiers and hostages at risk."

The meeting also witnessed another dispute between Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense over the security services' request for additional budgets.

Separately, Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an Israeli source on Friday as saying that the direction regarding a potential agreement in Gaza is for Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to jointly announce the deal during their meeting in Washington next Monday.

The newspaper indicated that the Chief of Staff and the head of the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), David Zinni, support a "partial agreement."

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Israeli media that Trump "made clear that there is no future for Hamas," stressing that this is "the right approach."

He also said that the release of all prisoners is a "top priority" for the US president, expressing his hope that "we will be very close to reaching an agreement."

The Prisoners' Families Committee in Gaza called on President Trump to continue to pressure and use his influence to conclude an agreement that would return all detainees in Gaza.

"We are counting on you to free all 50 kidnapped people and work to stop the war quickly," the commission said in a statement.

She also sent a similar message to Netanyahu, saying, "Now is the time to act, and if you have the will, you have the ability."

Hamas had previously confirmed that it was consulting with Palestinian factions regarding an offer presented by mediators, and that it would announce its final decision after the conclusion of those consultations.

The movement said in a statement, "As part of its commitment to ending the aggression against our people and ensuring the free flow of aid, it is holding consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the offer it received from mediators."

She confirmed that she would submit the final decision to the mediators after the consultations were completed, and would announce it officially.

It's worth noting that the movement has repeatedly affirmed its willingness to release Israeli prisoners "in one batch" in exchange for an end to the genocide and the Israeli military's withdrawal from Gaza. But Netanyahu, who is also on trial for corruption in Israel, is evading the deal by proposing new, impossible conditions, and is only interested in partial deals that would guarantee him a resumption of the war of annihilation.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement. It has ignored all international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the war. This has left more than 192,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.

Source: Al Jazeera