Mossad chief: Female prisoners do not have time to establish a mechanism to examine those returning from the southern Gaza Strip to its northern part

Israeli media reported, citing a security source, that establishing a mechanism to screen returnees to the northern Gaza Strip would take several weeks at best.

According to Israeli media, the Israeli intelligence agency "Mossad" David Barnea said, during the meeting of the Israeli Ministerial Council "Cabinet" held last night, that the detainees in Gaza do not have time to wait until a screening mechanism is established to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the south of the Strip to its north.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday evening that the meeting was held late Tuesday evening and continued until 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

According to the same source, the head of the Mossad implicitly criticized the new demands of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying: “Finding a mechanism to prevent the return of militants to the northern Gaza Strip will take many weeks, and there is no time to return the prisoners alive, and it may be too late.”

In contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an “unbelievable” statement during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, during which a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal was discussed.

"Hamas is the one that should be nervous,the kidnapped suffer but they do not die," Netanyahu said, angering the families of the prisoners to whom the information was leaked.

According to the Hebrew media, Netanyahu said: "We do not need tension. We are making progress towards achieving the goals of the war, eliminating Hamas and promising that Gaza will not pose a threat to Israel thanks to military pressure and political pressure. Hamas is under pressure because we are eliminating the tunnels and thousands of its terrorists. Hamas is under pressure because it realizes that we will not surrender to the enormous pressure from within and without. Even before the United States, I insisted on not stopping the war."

In addition, Yedioth Ahronoth indicated that the ministers who participated in the meeting expressed their optimism about the possibility of reaching an exchange deal.

Likud ministers asked their party leader, Netanyahu, to work towards completing the deal without paying attention to the threats of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.

The Israeli army continues its intensive and unprecedented bombardment of the Gaza Strip by air, land and sea, leaving thousands dead and wounded, most of them children and women.