US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, began a tour in the region during which she discussed ways to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an exchange of prisoners between the Israeli occupation authorities and the Palestinian factions in the Strip.

Barbara A. Leaf tour coincides with the start of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar and Egypt, to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners between the two sides, and a ceasefire in Gaza. Amid estimates that negotiations may continue for weeks to agree on the implementation mechanism.

A high-ranking Egyptian official who spoke to the Cairo News Channel, which is close to the authorities, confirmed, “The truce negotiations are continuing in Cairo amid intense activity by the Egyptian security delegation to bring the views of all parties closer together.”

An Israeli delegation led by the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, is in Cairo, holding meetings in an attempt to reach arrangements to reopen the Rafah crossing and security arrangements in the border area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, and the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, will go to Doha on Wednesday to discuss a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, according to a source familiar with the mediation efforts.

The source added that Barnea and Burns will meet with the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, while the Hamas movement called on the mediators to intervene urgently to put an end to “Netanyahu’s games,” stressing that it offers “flexibility and positivity” in the process of reaching an agreement.

According to Cairo News, “the Egyptian security delegation is heading tomorrow (Wednesday) to Doha on a mission to bring views closer between Hamas and Israel in order to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible,” quoting a “high-level source” (unnamed).

In a statement issued yesterday, Monday, the movement accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing the negotiations and “creating more obstacles.”

It said, "In light of what is happening with the occupation army threatening large neighborhoods of Gaza City and demanding their evacuation, and the massacres, killings, and displacement it is carrying out," the head of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, "conducted urgent contacts with the mediator brothers."

Haniyeh warned of "the catastrophic repercussions of what is happening in Gaza, as well as in Rafah and elsewhere." Haniyeh warned, according to the statement, that “this would return the negotiating process to point zero,” stressing that “Netanyahu and his army bear full responsibility for the collapse of this path.”

The US State Department said, in a statement issued today, “Liv will travel from July 8 to 14 this year to the Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank, in addition to Italy.”

It added that Leaf will meet with "government officials (whom she did not name) to discuss ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement, ensure the release of all hostages, and ensure the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip."

“LEAF will also hold additional discussions on the post-conflict phase in a way that builds lasting peace and security,” according to the same source.

Over the course of months, and in the face of Israeli intransigence with American cover, mediation efforts did not succeed in reaching an agreement, as they were hampered by the refusal of Netanyahu and officials in his government to respond to Hamas’ demands to stop the war completely.