Israel unexpectedly cancels war cabinet session

JERUSALEM

A meeting of Israel’s war cabinet scheduled for Thursday evening was unexpectedly canceled, with unnamed government officials suggesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is avoiding pressure over a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, Israeli media reported.

Israel’s Channel 12 quoted the officials as saying that Netanyahu is waiting for "concrete" answers from the Palestinian group regarding the potential deal's parameters before presenting it to the cabinet.

Netanyahu is facing criticism from the Israeli public and politicians, including war cabinet members, over the Israelis still being held hostage in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and the lack of a viable path for their safe return. Some accuse him of hindering their release deal due to "political calculations."

Channel 12 noted that war cabinet members, surprised by the unexpected cancellation of discussions, requested clarification. They were informed that discussions would resume after the Jewish Purim holiday, which begins this year on Saturday night and extends through Monday in Jerusalem.

An unnamed official in the government criticized the move, telling Channel 12 that there are crucial decisions on the war cabinet’s agenda.

The official described the cancellation of the war cabinet’s discussion session as "unprecedented recklessness."

Indirect negotiations continue in Doha, Qatar between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt and with the participation of the US, aiming to achieve a cease-fire and a prisoner exchange deal amid Israel's ongoing war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

According to Palestinian official sources, Israel holds at least 9,100 Palestinians in its prisons, while the exact number of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza remains undisclosed and the prisoners are distributed among various factions in the enclave.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 74,200 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 167th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.