Netanyahu Orders Israeli Negotiating Team to Continue Gaza Talks

The Prime Minister of the Zionist regime has instructed the Israeli negotiating team to prepare for the continuation of Gaza talks based on the proposal by Steve Witkoff.

News ID: 85921

Date: 16 March 2025 - 13:55

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime, has finally ordered the Israeli negotiating team to prepare for the continuation of negotiations regarding Gaza. This directive was issued based on the mediators' response to the proposal by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, which called for the immediate return of 11 live prisoners and the bodies of half of the killed prisoners.

On Saturday night, the office of the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime held a meeting with in-depth discussions on the issue of prisoners, attended by ministers, the negotiating team, and heads of security and military institutions.

According to the Al-Mayadeen, at the end of this meeting, Netanyahu issued the aforementioned order.

The Israeli i24news website reported that informed sources regarding this proposal, which was presented as a "framework for negotiating a permanent ceasefire" and proposed by Witkoff in the Gaza negotiations, stated that "this proposal creates a bridge to start negotiations for ending the war but does not guarantee its outcomes."

The proposal initially included extending the first phase of the ceasefire for an additional 50 days and the release of 5 Israeli prisoners and a number of Palestinian prisoners. According to this proposal, "mediators guarantee that negotiations will be completed during this period to reach an agreement on the necessary arrangements for a permanent ceasefire, the exchange of the remaining Israeli prisoners, the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, the entry of UN organizations and others, and the start of infrastructure reconstruction in Gaza."

The Zionist regime presented its response to Witkoff's proposal last Friday, demanding an increase in the number of Israeli prisoners to be released to 11, along with the bodies of 16 prisoners who were killed during the war. It announced that, in return, it would agree to a 40-day ceasefire, the release of 120 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, and more than 1,000 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested during the war and have no connection to the October 7 attack, as well as the handover of 160 bodies of Palestinian martyrs from the war.

Meanwhile, Hamas, which has agreed to the release of an American-Israeli prisoner and the handover of the bodies of 4 other prisoners, says that there must be firm guarantees for entering the second phase of negotiations before the prisoner exchange.