“OPEN MIND”
Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, which is linked to the intelligence services, quoted an unidentified high-ranking source as saying “there is significant progress in the negotiations” and that the mediators have “reached an agreed-upon formula on most points of contention”.
A senior Hamas official told AFP before the talks resumed that the movement “looks with an open mind to changes in the occupation’s (Israel’s) position and the American position, but there are issues that must be addressed”.
Senior Hamas official Hossam Badran accused Netanyahu Friday of trying to undermine the latest truce proposal with his threats to keep fighting with or without a deal.
Badran said Netanyahu’s insistence on attacking Rafah was calculated to “thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement”.
The top Israeli official, who spoke anonymously, said: “What we are looking at is an agreement over a framework for a possible hostage deal.”
He said that the sign of progress “would be if we send a delegation led by Mossad (intelligence service) chief (David Barnea) to Cairo”.
