Director Burns of the American CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) will soon visit France to mediate for the release of hostages held by the Islamic organization Hamas. It remains unclear whether negotiations between Israel and Hamas will progress.
Former Defense Minister Gantz, who is in Israel's wartime cabinet, expressed a positive outlook on the progress of negotiations. However, he said, if a new deal is not reached, we will continue the operation during Ramadan, and reiterated his intention to launch a ground operation toward Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip if the hostages are not released.