Amid the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday his rejection of the movement’s demands, which insisted on the release of leaders involved in operations that led to the deaths of Israelis.

"The powerful prisoners"

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper published that Hamas insists on releasing 3 prisoners whom the newspaper called “the powerful prisoners,” and accused them of having “blood on their hands.”

The newspaper report on Sunday stated:

• The names that Hamas insists on releasing indicate that the movement’s leaders are looking forward to what comes after the war and their future participation in the Palestinian leadership.

• The list that Hamas will present includes influential figures, including Marwan Barghouti, who is serving several life sentences, and Ahmed Saadat, the mastermind behind the assassination of Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze’evi, in 2001. Israel had previously refused to release him and Barghouti as part of any deal. Abdullah Barghouti, who was a senior commander in Hamas’s military wing in the West Bank, is serving an unprecedented sentence of 67 life sentences.

• Despite Hamas’ failed attempt to secure the release of Abdullah Barghouti in the 2011 exchange deal in exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for 5 years, the movement now insists on including him in the next exchange deal.

• Other names emerging as potential demands in the hostage deal include Hassan Salama, known for his close association with (assassinated) Hamas military leader Yahya Ayyash, and Abbas al-Sayyid, the second mastermind behind the bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya in 2002, who is on trial. Also forever.

• Hamas is also expected to demand the release of Ibrahim Hamed, who was the important second-in-command within Hamas in the West Bank and whom Israel accuses of involvement in orchestrating operations that led to the killing of Israelis.

The stage of difficult concessions

Palestinian journalist, Jamal Salem, expects that both Israel and Hamas will be forced to enter into a stage of concessions in the next stage of the negotiation stages, “after the pressures on both parties have become great.”

At that stage, Salem told Sky News Arabia, the discussion will be “different and more complex, as Israel has refused more than once to release senior leaders in exchange for the release of its prisoners, but in the coming period it may accept to negotiate this in exchange for the release of its soldiers.” ".

But this will not happen in the negotiations currently underway, according to Salem, as it is expected that a partial deal will be reached. As for the major prisoners and soldiers, it is likely that they will be part of a comprehensive deal that will come later.

For its part, as the Palestinian journalist says, Hamas confirms by insisting on the release of major prisoners that it “is still present on the ground” and wants to exploit these figures in post-war plans.

Palestinian political analyst Nizar Jabr also believes that Tel Aviv and Hamas will enter the stage of concessions, saying that the two are "in a dilemma," as Hamas wants to somewhat dismantle the military pressure, and Israel has internal pressure due to the remaining hostages in the hands of Hamas.

Jabr also agrees with Salem that the release of major prisoners will not take place in the current stage of the negotiations that are taking place regarding the release of children and women, not soldiers, other than that the goal now is a long ceasefire in which Hamas can regroup, and the negotiations will be about the major prisoners. The last stage of the war.