### Israel Seeks Modifications to Ceasefire Plan, Complicating Negotiations
**Sources Indicate Israel Wants to Screen Returning Palestinians; Hamas Accuses Netanyahu of Stalling**
On Friday, unnamed U.S. and Israeli officials revealed that William Burns, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is expected to meet with high-level officials from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar in Rome on Sunday to finalize an agreement on prisoners held in Gaza and a ceasefire.
A Western official, a Palestinian source, and two Egyptian sources reported that Israel is seeking amendments to a plan aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of prisoners held by Hamas. This has complicated reaching an agreement to end the ongoing conflict, which has devastated the region for nine months.
The sources stated that Israel is demanding that displaced Palestinians be screened upon their return to northern Gaza when the ceasefire begins, reversing an earlier agreement that allowed civilians who had fled to the south to return freely to their homes.
The Western official mentioned that Israeli negotiators “want a mechanism to screen returning civilian populations in northern Gaza, fearing that these populations might support remaining Hamas fighters.”
The Palestinian source and the Egyptian sources reported that Hamas has rejected this new Israeli demand, although a senior Israeli official said that Hamas has not yet reviewed the latest proposals, which are expected to be released “in the coming hours.”
The official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter, stated: “The messages from Hamas are strange because we have not yet sent the proposals, and no one has reviewed them yet. Even the negotiators have not received them. They will review them before sending them to Hamas for a response.”
The Egyptian sources also highlighted another point of contention related to Israel’s demand to retain control over Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Cairo rejects as being outside the scope of any final agreement acceptable to both parties.
In this context, Hamas senior leader Sami Abu Zuhri said: “Netanyahu is still stalling, and there is no change in his position.” Abu Zuhri did not directly comment on Israel’s demands.
The new points of contention come as U.S. President Joe Biden, in his talks with Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday, urged for a final ceasefire agreement.
John Kirby, White House National Security spokesperson, stated, “We are closer now than we have been before,” but noted that there are still gaps.
In a speech before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israel is engaged in “intensive efforts” to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza.
The sources who spoke to me requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the intermittent talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and releasing the hostages since the Hamas-led attack on October 7.
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar are mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas focused on a framework based on an Israeli proposal supported by Biden, who is pressing both sides to resolve remaining disagreements.
The framework consists of three phases: the first involves a six-week ceasefire, the release of women, elderly, and wounded prisoners in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel.
The framework proposes continuing discussions on the second phase, which Biden describes as “a permanent end to hostilities,” during the first phase. Major reconstruction efforts would begin in the third phase.
**Outstanding Issues**
U.S. officials have been indicating for weeks that an agreement is close, but obstacles remain.
The Western official and the two Egyptian sources said that Israeli officials raised the demand for a screening mechanism for civilians returning to northern Gaza during the last round of negotiations in Cairo earlier this month. The Western official said this “was not expected.”
The official added that Israel is not only concerned about the infiltration of Hamas fighters into the north but also about what it describes as “agents” among the civilians who might secretly support the movement.
The official and the three other sources mentioned that the Israelis are reluctant to withdraw their forces from the Philadelphi Route (Saladin), a 14-kilometer strip of land along the border with Egypt.
The Israeli military took control of this strategic strip in May, citing tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons and supplies. Egypt, however, claims to have destroyed the smuggling tunnels years ago and established a buffer zone and border fortifications to prevent smuggling.
The Western official said that recent days have seen efforts to find a resolution to this issue, either through an Israeli withdrawal or “reaching an understanding on how to manage it,” without going into details.
A senior Biden administration official, speaking to reporters on Wednesday before Netanyahu’s meeting with the U.S. president, said they are in the final stages of reaching an agreement.
The official added: “There are some things we need from Hamas, and there are some things we need from the Israeli side. I think you will see that happening over the next week.”
The official mentioned that among the things required from Hamas are “the prisoners who will be released,” without further elaboration.
Abu Zuhri rejected this claim, saying that “the U.S. administration is trying to cover up Netanyahu’s obstruction of the deal by saying that there are things required from both sides, which is far from the truth.”
By/radwa sherif✏️✏️📚