CIA Director William Burns will arrive in Cairo next week to participate and support the pending negotiations regarding the prisoner exchange deal.

According to the decision of the Israeli War Council, Israel will send a delegation on its behalf to the talks in Egypt on the condition that Hamas’s positions be softened, which demands an end to the war in the Gaza Strip in the response it sent to the mediators this week.

An Israeli report stated that Tel Aviv conveyed to both Cairo and Doha last night its answer to Hamas’ response, and rejected “a large part” of the movement’s demands.

A senior Israeli official expressed his pessimism to the Hebrew Channel 13, and said that the negotiations are “stuck” and the gaps between the two parties are still “large.”

According to the TV channel, Mossad chief Dedi Barnea is currently drafting a counter-proposal that will be formally presented on behalf of Israel to Hamas. This proposal is expected to receive the approval of the War Cabinet in the middle of next week.

On the other hand, two American and two Israeli officials told the American website Axios that Burns is expected to travel to Egypt next Tuesday.

Burns is the central figure for US President Joe Biden in efforts to secure a prisoner exchange deal and stop the war on Gaza. The website said that sending him to Cairo puts pressure on the Qatari and Egyptian mediators to push Hamas to agree to a “reasonable deal.”

American officials say that the White House acknowledges that the “hostage deal” is the only way to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden said in televised statements on Thursday that he was pushing hard to reach an agreement.

According to an Israeli official, Israel made clear to the mediators that, contrary to Hamas’s demand, it would not agree to the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from the “corridor” south of Gaza City, which divides the Gaza Strip into two parts.

Israel will not agree to the return of residents to the northern Gaza Strip, according to the report, which indicated that despite this; Tel Aviv expressed its readiness to study the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from "city centers" in the Gaza Strip.

Israel told the mediators that it opposes Hamas's request to add the phrase "permanently" to one of the provisions of the Paris proposal, which stipulates indirect negotiations on returning to "calm (permanently)", in the first phase of the deal.

According to the report, Israel made clear to the mediators that it is not prepared to discuss, within the framework of the potential hostage deal negotiations, lifting the siege on Gaza.

Tel Aviv assured the mediators that the “key” to releasing the prisoners that Hamas presented in its response was unacceptable. Israel also stated that the long list of demands attached to Hamas' response, such as commitments related to Al-Aqsa Mosque, or regarding the conditions of prisoners in occupation prisons, are unacceptable and have no relation to the deal that could be reached.