US, 'Israel', Qatar and Egypt set to discuss Gaza ceasefire in Rome
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Axios reports that the senior officials will only discuss the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal without addressing other unresolved issues.
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Massive destruction in residential areas in Gaza City due to Israeli repeated bombings in June, 2024 (AP)
CIA Director William Burns is scheduled to meet with officials from "Israel," Qatar, and Egypt in Italy's Rome to finalize the proposed ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement for Gaza, Axios reported on Friday citing US and Israeli officials.
On Sunday, Burns will sit down with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, the news site said.
Read more: Hamas unveils amendments to new ceasefire proposal
The meeting will focus on devising a strategy to advance the negotiations for a ceasefire and exchange deal, the report mentioned, noting however that there will be no discussions on the remaining unresolved issues.
"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants a deal that is impossible to get. At the moment, he isn't willing to move and therefore we might be headed for a crisis in the negotiations rather than a deal," an Israeli official said as per Axios.
According to Axios, Israeli negotiators were pessimistic about the outcome of the Rome conference and did not believe that pressure from Biden on Netanyahu had persuaded him to back down from some of his new, strong demands in the revised Israeli proposal.
President Joe Biden put forward a ceasefire proposal in May that included a three-phase execution plan. The US National Security Advisor stated then that Biden's proposal was in fact an Israeli one.
However, after Hamas and the involved parties agreed to the terms of the agreement, Netanyahu announced opposition to "Israel's" own deal, saying that the war on Gaza would not end until "all objectives are achieved," also rejecting to make any kind of commitment that the aggression would stop, neither orally nor written.
Read more: Survey reveals 62% of Israeli troops support prisoner exchange deal
This comes at a time when Israeli settlers and the families of captives continue protesting in "Israel's" main streets, particularly in Tel Aviv, for a prisoner exchange deal, a main demand that was dismissed by Netanyahu during his Congress speech.
Coinciding with Netanyahu's address in Congress, thousands of Israeli settlers also took to the streets to protest and demand a ceasefire.
Earlier this week, the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum made a statement saying that the immediate return of Israeli captives would only be possible through a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian Resistance.
The forum stressed that Netanyahu must send a negotiating team sooner rather than later, clearly demanding an immediate prisoner exchange agreement to bring back the 115 remaining captives.
