CIA Director William Burns will participate in the Paris meeting with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials (French)

Talks began in Paris to discuss reaching an exchange and calm deal in the Gaza Strip, and while an official in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that the movement was waiting for what the mediators would return, the families of Israeli prisoners closed a main street in central Tel Aviv to demand the conclusion of an immediate prisoner exchange deal.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that talks in Paris began this afternoon in order to discuss the possibility of reaching a prisoner exchange deal through mediators between the Israeli government and the Palestinian resistance movements.

The Israeli security mission arrived in the morning, led by the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, the head of the General Security Agency (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, and the official in charge of the prisoners and detainees file in the Israeli army, Major General Nitzan Alon, along with Ofir Flake, the political advisor to the Prime Minister.

The Israeli channel added that the goal of the talks is to create a general framework for an agreement.

The channel quoted an Israeli official as saying that there is reason for optimism, while Israeli expectations indicate that the course of the negotiations will be difficult and that they will take a long time, in light of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s adherence to his position of fully achieving the goals of the war, and not a final ceasefire.

For its part, the Cairo News Channel, which is close to the Egyptian authorities, reported that the Paris meetings began with the participation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.

The channel quoted a source as saying that the meetings aim to achieve calm in Gaza, release Palestinian prisoners and Israeli detainees, and support the humanitarian situation in the Strip.

In this context, the American ABC network quoted American officials as saying that CIA Director William Burns is heading to Europe today to conduct another round of negotiations regarding the prisoners to reach an agreement before the month of Ramadan.

According to American officials, gradual progress has been made in the exchange negotiations, but they assured the network that they do not see Ramadan as a firm deadline.

Hamas is waiting for a response

On the other hand, a Hamas official said on Friday that the movement had concluded ceasefire talks in Cairo, adding that it was now waiting to see what the mediators would return from the Paris talks with Israel.

The head of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, met with Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss the truce last week in his first visit since December.

Two Egyptian security sources confirmed that Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel is heading to Paris today, Friday, to hold talks with the Israelis, after the talks with Haniyeh concluded yesterday, Thursday.

The Hamas official - who requested anonymity - said that the movement did not present any new proposal in the talks with the Egyptians, but was waiting to see what the mediators would return from their upcoming talks with the Israelis.

He added, "We did not submit another paper. We only discussed them (the Egyptians) in our paper and are waiting for their return from Paris."

The last time similar talks were held in Paris, at the beginning of February, the outlines of the first extended ceasefire in the war agreed to by Israel and the United States were reached.

Hamas responded with a counterproposal, which Netanyahu rejected as a “fantasy.”

Hamas says that it will not release its Israeli prisoners except within a truce that ends with an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, in addition to the release of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons.

In return, Israel says it will not withdraw until Hamas is eliminated.

Road closure in Tel Aviv

On the other hand, the families of Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza closed the central Ayalon Street in downtown Tel Aviv for 40 minutes, demanding an immediate prisoner exchange deal.

The families placed 134 empty chairs in addition to the dining tables as an indication of how the families would receive the Saturday holiday without their 134 prisoners.

A truce previously prevailed between Hamas and Israel for a week from November 24 until December 1, 2023, during which a ceasefire took place, a prisoner exchange took place, and very limited humanitarian aid was brought into Gaza, with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are about 134 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while it holds at least 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources from both parties.

Since last October 7, Israel - which is on trial before international justice on charges of committing genocide crimes against the Palestinians - has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Friday, has left 29,514 martyrs and 69,616 injured, most of them children and women, in addition to thousands of missing persons. Under the rubble, according to the Palestinian authorities.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies