Israel expressed "cautious optimism" on Saturday about reaching a prisoner exchange deal, while four European countries announced their support for mediation efforts aimed at reaching an agreement to end the war on Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said this evening that the negotiating team had briefed Netanyahu on the status of the Doha talks on the "hostage" deal.
Netanyahu's office added that the negotiating team expressed cautious optimism about the possibility of moving forward with the deal.
He also said he hopes that pressure from Washington and mediators on Hamas will lead to accepting the American proposal and a breakthrough in the negotiations.
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 quoted informed officials as saying that there is no reason to be optimistic if Israel does not show real flexibility regarding the deal.
The Israeli delegation returned yesterday evening after participating in the two-day round of negotiations in Doha.
During these talks, the United States presented a new proposal for a possible agreement, and while the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) criticized the proposal, Israeli media reports indicated that the American proposal included points that were unacceptable to Netanyahu.
In the previous rounds of talks, the Israeli Prime Minister set conditions for reaching an agreement, including continued control over the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor, and placing restrictions on the return of residents to the northern Gaza Strip, conditions that Hamas strongly rejects.
Demonstrations took place this evening in Tel Aviv, demanding that the Israeli Prime Minister reach an agreement to exchange prisoners with Hamas immediately.
New details
The day after the Doha talks ended, the American news website Axios quoted an Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv had agreed to reduce the number of Palestinian prisoners whose release it could object to in exchange for increasing the number of “hostages” who would be released each week during the first phase of the agreement, which would last 6 weeks.
The website also quoted US officials as saying that President Joe Biden aims to reach an agreement to cease fire in Gaza and release detainees by the end of next week.
According to US officials, Biden is also trying to deter Iran and Hezbollah from launching an attack on Israel that would undermine these efforts.
Biden and US officials spoke of "significant progress" in the Doha round, which will be followed by another round in Cairo before the end of next week.
In contrast, Hamas described the American statements about the imminent reaching of an agreement as deceptive, noting that recent talks revealed that Israel is still preventing the reaching of a deal that would end the war on Gaza.
A leading source in the Hamas movement told Al Jazeera on Friday evening that the new American proposal meets the conditions of the occupation, stressing that any agreement must guarantee the cessation of aggression and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and must also include providing urgent relief and reaching a real deal to exchange prisoners.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to Israel today to reaffirm his support for its security and continue efforts to reach an agreement on Gaza.
According to Tel Aviv's estimates, there are currently 111 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, and more than 30 of them may have died.
Quadruple statement
Meanwhile, a statement by the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy today said that the four countries strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to reach an agreement to cease fire in Gaza and release the hostages.
The statement added that the aforementioned countries encourage the constructive approach that has been followed so far.
The statement welcomed the continuation of technical work in the coming days, including the part related to humanitarian provisions and specific arrangements regarding hostages, in addition to the meeting of senior officials again before the end of next week with the aim of completing the agreement.
The four European countries urged all parties to continue to participate positively and flexibly in the negotiation process.
At the same time, she stressed the importance of avoiding any escalation in the region because it could undermine the chances of peace.
