Israel considers sparing Hamas leaders in exchange for hostages

Israel’s priorities have faltered as the war on Gaza drags on, with no absolute position in place to liquidate the leader of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Yahya al-Sinwar, or the commander of  al-Qassam Brigades Mohamed al-Deif.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Monday that Tel Aviv is considering sparing Sinwar and Deif, and granting each of them immunity of some kind – allowing their deportation to another country in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Citing the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, the newspaper added that unnamed Israeli sources confirmed that Israeli security and political leadership have discussed this option.

They noted that this does not mean ending the war or abandoning the main goal of the military operation, which is to destroy the Hamas leadership.

A member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Mohamed al-Laham, slammed the news as a “lie”, and warned that Israel is trying to “ambush” the leaders of Hamas – especially since after over 80 days of war Israel forces not not been able to drive back the movement’s fighters.

Laham describing the talks as attempts to please the Israeli public by reaching out to Hamas leadership figures such as Sinwar and Deif, who recently humiliated Israel.

The leader of the Fatah movement and professor of political science at al-Quds University, Jihad al-Harazin, also called the reports “nonsense talk,” the aim of which he explained is to measure the movement’s acceptance or rejection.

“How can Israel, which is waging this war and committing all these crimes in order to take the head of (Sinwar), come out today to easily agree to his stay and deport him out of the country safely! Unbelievable. Sinwar is not that naive, and Israel must stop its silliness,” he said.

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