Israel is analysing Hamas’s reaction to a suggested arrangement that may lead to a prisoner exchange and cessation of hostilities in Gaza, based on a communique by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.
“The intermediaries for the prisoner swap have delivered Hamas’s stance on the suggested exchange to the negotiation team. Presently, Israel is scrutinising the reply and will subsequently communicate with the intermediaries,” declared a communique issued by the office of Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, acting as the mouthpiece for the agency.
On Thursday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu is slated to convene a security cabinet meeting to delve into overtures from Hamas, as revealed by an insider from his office to Reuters.
Countries like Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, have been consistently attempting for several months to effectuate an armistice and the freedom of the remaining 120 detainees in Gaza, unfortunately, their endeavours have reached an impasse.
Per the UN’s humanitarian body, around 90% of Gaza Strip’s populace has been dislocated at least once since the inception of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Andrea De Domenico, chief of the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office in the Palestinian territories, indicated on Wednesday that an estimated 1.9 million people in Gaza are believed to be displaced.
In another unrelated incident, southern Lebanon was the scene of a successful Israeli offensive that resulted in the demise of a high-ranking Hizbullah commander on Wednesday. This incited a counterattack by the Iran-supported group into Israel.
The Israeli defence forces affirmed the successful execution of Hizbullah’s Mohammed Nasser, one of the outfit’s highest-ranking commanders, to perish in the ongoing conflict according to security sources within Lebanon.
Defence Minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, expressed confidence in the country’s preparedness to act decisively in Lebanon. He expressed a preference for settling matters through diplomatic channels, but reasserted Israel’s readiness for combat if necessary.
Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Israeli forces had claimed the lives of five Palestinians during two military expeditions in the occupied West Bank. This information is corroborated by both Palestinian and Israeli sources.
In a refugee camp near the town of Tulkarm, an nocturnal air raid resulted in the deaths of four men. In a different operation in Jenin, another man succumbed to Israeli gunfire, as reported by the Palestinian health ministry, currently under Hamas control, on Wednesday.
The Israeli military asserted in a statement that their forces “executed an accurate assault on the terrorist unit,” resulting in the demise of four militants.