Informed sources told Axios: Israeli and American officials are more optimistic than ever about the possibility of reaching an agreement.
The main remaining gap centers around the Palestinian faction movement’s demand for written commitments from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar that negotiations on the second phase of the deal will continue, without a time limit, while the first phase of the deal is ongoing.
Israel believes that the issue can and should be resolved during the talks in Doha in order to move forward with detailed negotiations on implementing the agreement, according to Israeli and American officials.
The website added that there are also still points of disagreement over implementation issues, such as the timeline for the redeployment of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, the identity of Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli prisons, and whether Israel will be able to veto the release of some prisoners.
The White House is pressing all parties involved to complete the agreement, which could secure the release of 120 hostages and end the nine-month war in Gaza — or at least lead to a 42-day cessation of fighting and the release of some hostages, including American citizens.
The site notes that the long-awaited deal would achieve a major foreign policy victory for President Biden, who is struggling to restore confidence in his leadership within the Democratic Party and around the world.
CIA Director William Burns arrived in Doha after talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and a tripartite meeting with senior Egyptian and Israeli security officials.
Israeli and American officials told Axios that the talks that took place in Egypt had made progress on the issue of securing the border between Egypt and Gaza and reopening the Rafah crossing.
Two Israeli officials said that there is a common understanding between the United States, Egypt and Israel about the need to close the Philadelphia Corridor on the border between Egypt and Gaza and prevent the smuggling of weapons to Palestinian factions through underground tunnels.
The two Israeli officials added that the United States has shown great willingness to participate directly in building infrastructure on the border, such as an underground “wall” that detects attempts to dig tunnels so that they can be destroyed in time.
Source: Axios
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