On July 17th, local time, an Israeli senior official stated that following the submission of a new version of the ceasefire agreement by Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the relevant mediation direction,
the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have made “significant progress,” and Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved the Israeli negotiating delegation to advance on multiple issues.
It is reported that Israel had previously revised its military deployment plan during the proposed ceasefire period, with the IDF withdrawing from the “Morawiye Military Corridor” and establishing a buffer zone of 1.5 kilometers wide along the Egypt-Gaza border, as well as setting up security zones of about 1 kilometer wide in other areas near the border in the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli official told the media that Israel and Hamas have not yet agreed on the proportion of personnel exchange between the two sides, and negotiations are expected to continue for several more days at least.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States submitted an updated ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement proposal to Israel and Hamas on the 16th. Sources mentioned that the mediators believe that Israel’s recent concessions may enable both parties to reach an agreement quickly.
(CCTV Zhao Bing, Xu Tao)
