After Al-Qassam broadcast a video of an Israeli prisoner.. Is the exchange deal close, or does the occupation continue to procrastinate it?

Gaza - Occupied Jerusalem -

A short video clip broadcast by the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on Monday evening, shows the captive Israeli soldier in Gaza, Avira Mengistu;

The goal she wanted, by stirring up the political and security circles in Israel, and putting the new Chief of Staff of the occupation army, Herzi Halevi, in front of a challenge as soon as he assumed his position to succeed Aviv Kochavi.

The short video message, in which Mengistu appeared speaking in Hebrew, "How long will I and my comrades remain here after these long years of suffering and pain? Where is the state and people of Israel from our destiny?", It had a clear impact on his family and the Israeli circles, which analyzed the messages of the Al-Qassam Brigades. And the fate and prospects for a prisoner exchange deal.

Al-Qassam Brigades said in its message, "We confirm the failure of the former Israeli Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, and his institution, and his lie to his people and government with alleged and delusional achievements, and his successor, Halevy, must prepare himself to bear the burdens of this failure and its consequences."

Qassam messages

And the prominent leader in Hamas, Dr. Ismail Radwan - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - identified several messages that the Al-Qassam Brigades wanted behind broadcasting this video message at this time, and he said, "It is an important message that coincides with the handover ceremony for the occupation chief of staff."

In the forefront of these messages - according to Radwan - are two messages, "the first is addressed to Kochavi, who is lying to his people, and what he declared regarding the development of the prisoner file and the exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance, and the second limits the resistance to his successor, Halevy, by saying that it will not forget its prisoners, and the enemy's prisoners will not see the light." before our captives are free."

The Al-Qassam Brigades proves time and time again that it manages this file with high professionalism, that the prisoners in the occupation prisons are on the top of its priorities, and that its quest to liberate them will not stop by all means, according to the confirmation of the Hamas leader and the former minister in its tenth government.

Radwan said, "It is a message of strength from the Al-Qassam Brigades that it is able to impose its conditions on the Zionist occupation, and force it, sooner or later, to yield to its demands to complete an honorable exchange deal."

And about whether Hamas believes that a video of an Israeli of Ethiopian origin can move the file of the exchange deal, Radwan believes that the video carried "clear and other implicit messages" that have already reached the occupation, and he said, "The Al-Qassam Brigades is studying its steps well, and everything it has has a price."

What is the price behind broadcasting Mengistu's message?

Radwan answers, "The video broadcast was necessary to confirm the credibility of the Al-Qassam Brigades that it possesses power cards, no matter how the occupation tries to deny that and deceive its people that "there are no living prisoners in Gaza." Mengistu's appearance and the words of his short message were clear in this regard.

Deal or forget

Radwan added, "After this message, the new extremist Zionist government has no choice but to define its position, either through an exchange deal that meets the conditions of the resistance, or its prisoners will sink into oblivion."

With this option, Radwan recalled the threat of the head of the Hamas political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in the middle of last month, putting Israel before a specific and short deadline to choose one of two possibilities: either an exchange deal, or considering its prisoners missing forever.

Radwan believes that "the resistance that succeeded in keeping the enemy's prisoners for 9 years, achieving security and military success, is able to impose its will on the occupation, and force it to an exchange deal with its power cards, and what it has shown up to this moment is part of the precious catch that it possesses, no matter how hard it tries." The occupation underestimated the magnitude of the shock.

In April 2016, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced - for the first time - that it had 4 captured Israeli soldiers, including the two soldiers, Shaul Aron and Hadar Goldin, who captured them during the third war on Gaza in 2014, in addition to Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, who entered Gaza under conditions Mysterious.

The Al-Qassam Brigades adheres to the completion of an exchange deal that it describes as “honorable” and promises the families of the prisoners and calls it “Loyalty of the Free 2”, which guarantees the liberation of prisoners with high sentences in the occupation prisons, after its success in 2010 in completing the “Loyalty of the Free 1” deal, under which 1027 prisoners were freed. And a captive, in exchange for the release of the soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was captured in mid-2006.

Regarding the names of the leaders' prisoners circulated by the Israeli press, and the resistance demands them, Radwan did not want to comment on this matter, and contented himself with saying, "The resistance has its conditions and criteria for completing an honorable deal, and the occupation must submit to liberate its prisoners."

Israeli reaction

On the Israeli side, Mengistu's video placed the issue of the exchange deal again on the agenda of the new Israeli government, and the concerns of the military and security echelons in Tel Aviv, with voices calling for the appointment of a coordinator for prisoners and missing persons affairs in the prime minister's office to succeed Yaron Blum, as the position has been vacant for more than two months.

Ayal Alima, a military analyst for the official Israeli radio, "Kan", believes that Hamas, by broadcasting a video of an Israeli of Ethiopian origin, has achieved an achievement in the battle of awareness and the psychological warfare it is waging with Israel in the file of the prisoner exchange.

The Israeli military analyst told Al-Jazeera Net that the timing of the video's publication during Halevy's inauguration as Kochavi's successor, who spoke about the failure of the Israeli establishment to complete the exchange deal and return of Israeli prisoners during his tenure, is an additional achievement for Hamas, as he understands that it is aware of what the Israeli side thinks.

It is likely that the broadcast of the video serves as a pressure card by Hamas on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, through its attempt to create a state of protests and demonstrations that may push the new government to move towards completing the exchange deal.

However, the Israeli analyst ruled out that this would contribute to achieving Hamas' demands and the exorbitant price it demands in exchange for a comprehensive exchange deal, due to the lack of interaction of the Israeli public opinion with the file of the civilians detained by Hamas.

Alima recalled that Hamas published the video of the Israeli Hisham Al-Sayyed 6 months ago, which did not contribute to inflaming Israeli public opinion and did not create a state of protests in the Israeli street, not even any progress or result at the level of negotiations, indicating that Hamas, through these videos, seeks to achieve achievements similar to what Achieved in the soldier Shalit deal.

Regarding the reasons why Israeli society did not interact with Mengistu and Al-Sayed's videos, the military analyst attributed this to the fact that they are of Ethiopian and Arab origins and come from marginalized social classes in Israel, and are not Western or even Eastern Jews, which prevents interaction and widespread protests.

He said that there is a gap in negotiations and demands between the governments of Israel and Hamas, and that the Israeli society lives in a state of consensus and agreement on the need not to pay a heavy price for an exchange deal, despite Hamas's hints from time to time that the two captive soldiers, Aaron and Goldin, are alive.

Based on this, the military analyst doubted that the Israeli government would agree to complete an exchange deal with the conditions, demands, and list of names determined by Hamas, as Israel views the file of Al-Sayed and Magnesto as a "humanitarian issue," while the other two soldiers are considered dead.