Red Cross cars and Palestinian public wait for the hand over of captives Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel Chen, and Alexander Troufanov, to the Red Cross by Hamas and islamic Jihad fighters in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. AP
"In my view, we missed two opportunities to sign an agreement... in March and July" last year, said Oren Setter, who resigned from the Israeli negotiating team in October, in remarks broadcast on Channel 12 on Saturday.
"We did not do everything we could to bring them back as quickly as possible."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused by opposition figures and some families of hostages of not doing enough to secure their release and torpedoing talks, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, for his own political gain.
On Saturday, his office dismissed Setter's remarks, stating that "his claims that an agreement could have been reached earlier are entirely baseless."
Hamas and Israel are currently implementing the first 42-day phase of a ceasefire that has largely halted fighting in Gaza.
Setter clarified that he wanted to "speak about facts" and argued that the deaths of captives and "unnecessary suffering" could have been avoided.
Since the truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement came into effect, 19 Israeli captives have been released in exchange for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
A total of 33 Israeli captives, at least eight of whom have died, are to be released during the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19.
The second phase, which is yet to be negotiated, is expected to cover the release of the remaining captives and include discussions on a more permanent end to the war.
* This story wad edited by Ahram Online
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