The United States considered on Monday that it is still possible for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel to reach a prisoner exchange deal and establish a truce in Gaza, while CIA Director William Burns is expected to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday, to participate in the ongoing negotiations regarding this file. Through Qatari mediation.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, "There were a number of untenable provisions in the proposal that came as a response from Hamas, but we believe that reaching an agreement is possible and we will continue our efforts" to achieve it.

Miller added that America believes that there are great benefits in reaching a truce and agreement on prisoners, “not only for the hostages who will be released, but also for the humanitarian efforts in Gaza, and our ability to begin seeking an actual and lasting solution to this conflict.”

The proposal, which was put forward for the first time during talks that took place in Paris, which brought together Burns with senior Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials, stipulates a temporary halt to the fighting and an exchange of prisoners between the two sides.

Hamas responded by accepting the proposal in principle, and demanded the liberation of prominent Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the cities of the Gaza Strip, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ response to the proposal and pledged to deal a “deadly blow” to the movement.

Sources familiar with the developments said that Burns is expected to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday, to hold a new round of talks on a Qatari-brokered agreement.

Last night, Israel launched intense air strikes on Rafah, killing more than 100 Palestinians, and said that it was able to free two of its more than 130 prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip, according to its army data.

Additional suffering

Israel insists on carrying out a ground operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, while the states and Western countries warn against launching an attack on more than a million Palestinians congregating in the city, after they fled a devastating war launched by Israel in the northern Gaza Strip, which has so far led to the death of more than 28,000 Palestinians.

Miller said, "Our assessment is that this air strike is not the beginning of a large-scale attack in Rafah." He added that Washington will make clear over the weekend that it does not support launching a large-scale military operation in Rafah "without a credible plan."

An American official said that the Israeli raids on Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, should not affect negotiations to reach an agreement on a truce and the release of detainees.

He added that any military action in Rafah must be accompanied by a reliable strategy to protect more than a million people, and with guarantees of providing aid to them.

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) said that it continues to talk to the Israelis about the importance of taking into account civilians within the framework of their military plans, indicating that it does not want to see any additional humanitarian suffering against the residents of Gaza.

In a related context, Democratic Representative Pamela Jayapal said that it is time for US President Joe Biden and Congress to publicly refuse to provide any military aid to Israel.

In turn, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen called on the president not to provide any weapons to Israel unless it allows more aid to Gaza.

He said that children in Gaza are dying due to deliberate deprivation of food, and this constitutes a war crime. He called on the president to demand that Netanyahu immediately allow more food and supplies to Gaza, considering that "Netanyahu has always thanked us for military aid and rejected our requests to protect civilians."