FALCON POWERS – The meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns has concluded.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters that the two discussed the possibility of Israel suspending its operation in Rafah in exchange for the release of prisoners.
The Israeli official stated today (Wednesday) that there are still significant gaps in the negotiations regarding the hostage deal, but the Israeli team will remain in Cairo to try to bridge these gaps. They will make a great effort to promote the deal. The official said, “The mandate for the negotiating team is very broad, and we will do our utmost to try to reduce the differences. There is a long way to go at the political level to try to reach an agreement.”
On the other hand, a senior Hamas official accused Netanyahu of returning the negotiations on the prisoner release deal to square one.
The official told Qatar’s Al-Arabi channel that Netanyahu did this to buy time. The official warned that “the families of the abducted individuals should know that this round of talks is the last chance to bring back their children.”
The source added that “the movement will assess its position after this round of negotiations, and things will not be as they were before the invasion of Rafah.”
