ALBAWABA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sudden agreement to a peace plan with Hamas is a big change from how he has been acting during the war. He did this because of growing pressure from both inside and outside of Israel.
Some prisoners would be exchanged as part of the plan, which is meant to open the door to more talks. Far-right ministers are against it, but it is a result of political necessity and a need to change strategies.
Recently, Hamas agreed to a modified ceasefire deal. This put more pressure on Netanyahu from the Israeli people and from U.S. President Donald Trump, who backed Israel in its fight with Iran and is now pushing for peace in the area.
Even though Israel has made military progress, including U.S. attacks on Iranian targets, Netanyahu has not been able to use this to his advantage in politics. Polls show that he would have a hard time putting together an alliance if elections were held soon. At the same time, people are getting more and more angry about the long war and what's happening with the Israeli POWs.
Adding to the stress, the Israeli military has told the cabinet that any more actions in Gaza will have little effect and cost a lot of money. Commanders wanted to be clear about the army's goals, saying that it had already done what it was told and that continuing to fight would have diminishing results.
Netanyahu is now trying to avoid a fight with military leaders and meet public demands. He seems to be finding a balance between making his far-right supporters happy and supporting Trump's peace efforts. This shift is shown by his recent trip to Nir Oz and change in tone, putting the release of prisoners first.
But talks are going to be hard. There are still disagreements about the prisoners chosen, the terms of aid delivery, and the size of Israel's retreat. Reports say that Netanyahu wants Trump to give him political rewards, possibly in the form of normalizing things in the area or giving Iran new guarantees.
While talks are still going on, Netanyahu's move shows both how the ground is changing and how he is trying to stay alive politically.
