An Israeli negotiating delegation left Cairo and returned to Tel Aviv shortly after arriving yesterday, where they were supposed to continue talks on a hostage exchange deal with Palestinian groups, Anadolia reports.

The delegation, made up of the head of the Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, Ronen Barr, and the government's coordinator for operations in the Palestinian territories, Ghassan Aliyan, returned to Tel Aviv due to disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Yediot newspaper reported. Achron".

Netanyahu's office has not yet commented on the issue.

"The Israeli delegation's visit to Cairo is the result of strong American pressure on Israel and Egypt in recent days to continue negotiations on the hostage agreement despite the assassination of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya," reported the Israeli news portal "Wala", citing of unnamed sources.

Senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday that his insistence on new terms would sabotage the ceasefire agreement and the release of the hostages. prompting the prime minister to claim that Hamas, not him, was introducing new demands.

Channel 12 quoted both Halevi and Gallant as accusing Netanyahu of being well aware that the new terms he is demanding, which are reportedly included in the updated Israeli proposal, will kill the deal.

The new proposal reportedly calls for the introduction of an inspection mechanism to ensure that fighters cannot move north into the Gaza Strip; Israel to remain on the border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, in the first phase of the agreement; and Israel's insistence on receiving a list of all the live hostages that Hamas will release as part of the deal. None of those demands appeared in the Israeli proposal submitted on May 27, which was then publicly announced by US President Joe Biden, and which was then vehemently opposed by the prime minister's far-right allies, The Times of Israel reports.

"There is no security reason to delay the contract. Since we are speaking openly, I am telling you that your views are not helpful on this issue," Galant quoted Netanyahu as saying during a high-level meeting held on Wednesday evening.

"Regarding Philadelphia, I'm not recommending that we turn that into an obstacle or something that will prevent us from returning (from Gaza) 30 people in the first phase (of the deal), half of them women," Halevi added.

In response, Channel 12 cited a "senior source" — the network hinted that it was Netanyahu himself — accusing his critics of being politically motivated. Netanyahu last month added several "inviolable" demands to the hostage deal proposal, including Israeli control of the so-called Philadelphia Corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt and the Netzarim Corridor, which currently bisects the Strip. The Netzarim and Philadelphia corridors are not listed as locations where Israeli troops will be allowed to remain, according to the text of the May Israeli proposal, which was published in full by The Times of Israel.

In fact, the document calls for a "withdrawal of Israeli forces eastward away from densely populated areas along the borders in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including the Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, Channel 13 reported yesterday that the United States had sent angry messages that Israel had "backed out" of the deal it had proposed. The network quoted unnamed Egyptian sources as saying that Haniya's assassination had frozen the talks but would not delay them for long.

"Leaks and false briefings from unknown parties in the media create a false impression for the public," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office told public broadcaster Khan after it reported that Shin Bet chief Ronen Barr had accused the prime minister of "making changes" to Israel's proposal amid negotiations.

According to Khan, members of the negotiating team further told Netanyahu that his position on the Netzarim corridor would "destroy the deal" and that "we have approved a proposal that treats the corridor differently."

"While Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the draft, Hamas is trying to introduce dozens of changes that effectively nullify it," the Prime Minister's Office responded — claiming that he "has not added anything to the draft and continues to adhere to basic conditions for Israel's security." "Whoever offers to accept Hamas' demands in order to get applause in the [television] studios is damaging the chances of freeing the hostages and returning us to the reality of social strife since October 6," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office claimed.

According to a Channel 12 report on Wednesday night's top-level meeting, Israeli security chiefs reportedly urged Netanyahu to use the momentum created by recent attacks on senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials to seize the opportunity for a hostage-truce deal with Hamas.

The meeting followed an Israeli attack in Beirut that killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday night and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday morning; Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for that attack.

While Mossad chief David Barnea, who is leading Israel's deal negotiations, reportedly told the meeting that there was a deal ready and Israel had to accept it, Netanyahu rebuked his security chiefs, pounding the table and telling them they were bad negotiators — a claim later denied by the Prime Minister's Office.

“You are weak. You do not know how to conduct difficult negotiations. You are putting words in my mouth. "Instead of pressuring the prime minister, press (Hamas in Gaza) Sinwar," Netanyahu reportedly shouted.

Speaking on Khan's main evening show on Friday night, Walla News political correspondent Tal Shalev reported that Netanyahu had planned to fire Galant when he returned from his visit to the US, but the firing was delayed due to the deadly attack by Hezbollah in Maydal Shams. and the killing of two terrorist bosses this week.

She added that sources close to Netanyahu said that after replacing Gallant, the prime minister plans to fire both IDF chief Halevi and Shin Bet chief Barr to eliminate criticism of the way he is handling the return negotiations. hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 and accusations that it risks sabotaging the deal.

The series of reports about the security chiefs' disagreements with Netanyahu came as a senior Israeli delegation traveled to Cairo yesterday for indirect talks with US and Egyptian negotiators but returned the same day.

Israeli media reported that Mossad chief Barnea, Shin Bet security agency chief Barr and Major General Ghassan Alian, head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), held meetings in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and senior Egyptian military officials.

According to several media reports, the meeting brought no progress. An Israeli source was quoted by the Haaretz daily as saying that the talks had not yielded results and that "the very departure of the delegation to Egypt in these circumstances is the only good news."

After yesterday's talks, opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of "continuing to delay the deal on the return of the hostages just for political reasons." Lapid called on the heads of Israel's security apparatus to "come out and tell the truth to the public," saying that "if the Israeli government has given up on the hostages, it should be honest with the families and stop playing games."

US President Joe Biden also reportedly expressed skepticism about Netanyahu's willingness to strike a deal, telling him during a phone call on Thursday to "stop playing him," Channel 12 reported.

The network reported that the US president told Netanyahu to stop "taunting" after the Israeli prime minister told him that Israel was continuing to negotiate a hostage-truce deal and would soon send a delegation to resume talks.