Israel After round in Rome: Gaza talks to continue

The Israeli chief negotiator in the indirect Gaza talks, David Barnea, has returned to Israel after the latest round of negotiations in Rome. Talks on the main issues will continue in the coming days, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced. No further details were given.

Barnea, who heads the foreign intelligence service Mossad, met with CIA chief William Burns as well as Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in the Italian capital. The USA, Qatar and Egypt are mediating between Israel and the Islamist Hamas.

The talks have been dragging on for months. Since May, they have revolved around a multi-stage plan by US President Joe Biden, which ultimately envisages a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza war. In addition, hostages held by Hamas are to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The first phase of Biden's plan envisages a ceasefire of around six weeks. During this period, a certain group of hostages would be released. According to an Israeli count, Hamas has 115 of them in its custody, but many of them are no longer believed to be alive.

In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the next phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released. According to the draft, the final phase would see the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip begin.

Most recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formulated additional conditions that are likely to be unacceptable to Hamas. According to media reports, Barnea presented them to the mediators at the meeting in Rome. The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of 1,200 people killed by Hamas Islamists together with other groups from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 7 last year.