Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for canceling diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

“There is an agreement on the hostages on the table. It may be concluded, it must be concluded, “Mr Lapid insisted during a meeting of the GSF Party’s parliamentary group (” Party for the Future “) in Tel Aviv, according to a report by the Times of Israel newspaper.

It was referring to the efforts of international mediators to secure an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Movement for Hamas in indirect negotiations, which would provide for the liberation of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Amidst Israeli army operations with the proclamated aim of occupation of the city of Gaza, international mediators – Qatar, Egypt, US – have recently been intensifying efforts to find a solution through indirect negotiations.

Yair Lapid noted that senior officials of these states have contacted him and have expressed their question that they are not receiving any response from the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government.

“They told me: ‘We don’t understand. We have not received any answer. Neither positive – not even negative. Israel simply does not answer, ‘”said Mr Lapid, according to the report.

Always according to Mr Lapid, Hamas stresses the mediators that they are open to both a total and individual agreement.

Of the 251 people who were abducted during the attack of Hamas’s military arm in the southern part of the Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, 47 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, but 27 are considered to be dead by the Israeli army. Most are believed to be held in underground tunnels in the city of Gaza.

Relatives of hostages and, according to the Israeli press, even leading military hierarchy executives have expressed concern that the operation will put the lives of those who are left in danger.