While the northern front is raging after the devastating shooting at Majdal Shams, which killed 12 children and teenagers on a soccer field – and will inevitably result in a harsh response from Israel, which is still being calculated at this time, the fighting continues as usual on the southern front, and IDF forces continue to operate in Khan Yunis (Division 98) and Rafah (Division 162). In Rome, negotiations are currently underway between Israel and Hamas in preparation for a deal of Hostages, which will lead to the release of some of the 115 Hostages currently in the Gaza Strip (of whom more than 40 are not among the living), in exchange for Israeli gestures – in accordance with the Biden outline presented several months ago, to which Israel undertook.
Mossad chief David Barnea flew to Rome to meet with the CIA director as well as Qatari and Egyptian officials, with several new points outlined by the prime minister at the end of his diplomatic visit to the United States. The points clarify principles for which there have recently been speculation about significant concessions by Israel, and were intended to clarify: Israel will not allow the return of armed men to the northern Gaza Strip; the IDF will remain on the Philadelphi route, at least in the first stage of the deal; and Israel will receive a list of the Hostages who will be released before the deal is carried out.
These points do not exceed the Biden outline and the deal as has been advanced so far, but makes it clear to Hamas that it should not expect Israel to make concessions in these areas. Some sources expressed concern that Hamas would not accept Israel’s points, or that the mediators would not pass them on without hope of being accepted by Hamas. Netanyahu may not be afraid that Israel will be presented as the side that obstructs negotiations, thanks to the political credit he earned on his last visit to the United States. A source in the Prime Minister’s entourage also said that putting pressure on Netanyahu would only distance the deal, and that everything was well coordinated with the United States: “The more united our positions are with the Americans, the greater the chance of the hostages being released.”