American officials told journalist Thomas Friedman, from the New York Times, that “restrictions will be imposed on types of weapons for Israel if the Rafah operation begins, contrary to our position.”

US officials told journalist Thomas Friedman of the New York Times yesterday (Saturday) that “if Israel goes to a large-scale military operation in the city of Rafah, contrary to the US administration’s position, President Biden will consider limiting the sale of certain types of weapons to Israel.”

This comes against the backdrop of efforts made to return abductees from the Gaza Strip, when Hamas announced that it had received the official Israeli response to its proposal two weeks ago in the ceasefire talks.

A statement by Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, said that the movement will examine the answer before submitting its response.

A senior Hamas official added to Al-Mayadeen TV that the movement's response to the Israeli response will be within days. The security establishment and the majority of the political level are concerned with reaching a deal along Egyptian lines, according to which between 20 and 40 kidnapped persons will be released in exchange for a ceasefire of a day or more for each kidnapped who is released.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reservations about a partial deal and is interested in reaching a comprehensive deal, which is not on the table now, partly because Hamas would demand an end to the war, a demand that Israel opposes.