Hebrew Channel Reveals How Netanyahu Foiled Comprehensive Deal with Hamas and Preferred to Resume War

Translation by SadaNews - Channel 13 revealed on Monday evening documents from secret discussions held last March regarding the possibility of continuing negotiations with Hamas for the release of more Israeli prisoners.

According to the channel, as translated by SadaNews, those documents show that security leaders believed there was an opportunity to reach a comprehensive agreement at that time and to resume war if necessary, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected that.

The channel believes that the entire Israeli leadership mistakenly assessed that pressure through humanitarian conditions would force Hamas to surrender. It added: "After five months, it is evident that Israel's conduct regarding aid to Gaza has harmed it on the international stage and has had no impact on Hamas."

It clarified that the first discussion took place on March 1, 2025, just a few days after recovering several bodies of prisoners in Gaza through the deal, where they were discussing whether to move to the second phase of the agreement, meaning discussing the terms for ending the war and releasing more prisoners, or returning to combat.

Major General Nitzan Alon, who is responsible for the file of Israeli prisoners in the Israeli army, said during that session, as translated by SadaNews from Channel 13, as noted in the meeting minutes: "The only opportunity to release the hostages is to discuss the conditions for the second phase," while Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer responded: "We are not ready to end the war while Hamas is in power... We thought an explosion would occur when we entered the talks, but that did not happen."

Meanwhile, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said, "My preferred option is to go to the second phase, we can easily return to war, we can bring everyone back, then return to fighting," while another security official stated: "We can contribute to the release of more, but to achieve this, we need to talk to them about the second phase, which means discussing the terms for ending the war." The political leadership, headed by Netanyahu, rejected this proposal.

Additional quotes reveal what then-Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was thinking, especially after the head of the Shin Bet suggested ending the war, retrieving the prisoners, and then returning to combat if necessary. He was supported by Mossad chief Dedi Barnea in this opinion, but Smotrich attacked Bar, saying: "You mislead public opinion by suggesting that it is possible to stop the war and return because Trump will grant us that; this is ignorance and nonsense."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz supported a partial withdrawal from the sector instead of a complete withdrawal, stating: "We seek to proceed with the Witkowitz Plan, but if Hamas returns a certain number of captives, even if they do not return half, that would be excellent."

The headquarters of the families of the Israeli prisoners responded to the revelations, stating: "These are serious discoveries and conclusively prove what we have been discussing for a year and a half: that a comprehensive deal could have been reached, but the Israeli government deliberately thwarted that."

It added: The Israeli government has wasted every opportunity to return the captives, and dozens of them have died while alive in captivity awaiting a deal that the government did not intend to promote. Now, the families of 50 captives are waiting for the return of their sons, to bury the dead among them properly and to rehabilitate the living. Since the previous deal, 50 soldiers have been killed to this day, and no military achievements have been made.