Crucial cabinet meeting: security chiefs push for prisoner-exchange deal, Netanyahu refuses

Hebrew media said on Sunday, August 31, 2025, that the small ministerial cabinet for political and security affairs in the occupying state — the “kabinett” — will see a sharp debate, amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on refusing any discussion of a partial deal with Hamas, versus the position of security leaders who are pressing to adopt that option as “the best way to save the lives of Israeli hostages”.

According to reports, the meeting agenda does not include discussion of any partial agreement to exchange Israeli detainees in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, despite pressure from army and security chiefs.

Field escalation
This comes as the occupation army has intensified its air raids on Gaza City since dawn Friday, after declaring it a “dangerous combat zone.” Today it struck a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in the west of the city, killing seven Palestinians, as part of a policy aimed at forcing civilians to evacuate.

Divergent positions
Channel 12 reported that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir stressed in earlier deliberations that “the proposed deal is the preferred option,” warning that any large-scale ground invasion of Gaza City would be a “dangerous gamble” that would threaten the lives of hostages and soldiers, and calling to exhaust the negotiation track first.

In contrast, Netanyahu insists that “the proposal is no longer valid,” and that the only option is full control of Gaza and imposing a comprehensive deal solely on Israeli terms.

Pressing security front
According to the channel, the kabinett had already decided to proceed toward occupying Gaza, despite Hamas having given a positive response to the “Witkov” initiative that Israel itself put forward six months ago. Data indicate that security chiefs, including National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, will form a united front today to demand a return to the partial-deal option, whose first phase calls for the release of ten Israeli prisoners within two months of a ceasefire.

The channel quoted a security source as saying: “We could have had living hostages in their homes last week if we had adhered to the agreement. There is a deal on the table and it should be taken instead of gambling with the lives of hostages and soldiers,” adding that continuing to bet on Hamas’s collapse through a ground invasion is a “dangerous illusion.”

The ground front expands
The channel also said the occupation army has already expanded its ground operations in Gaza City neighborhoods such as Zeitoun and Sheikh Radwan, and now controls about 40% of its 45-square-kilometre area. According to military estimates, the major operation will begin once the deployment of 60,000 recently mobilized reserve soldiers is complete.

The channel concluded by saying that “the only scenario that might stop the attack on Gaza is reaching a hostage deal.”