This past week, the US president’s administration sent the US CIA Director William Burns into the Middle East fray to help negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas along with other intelligence heads and diplomats from Israel, Egypt and Qatar at an undisclosed location in Paris.

The negotiation’s priority appears to be for the release of the 100+ remaining hostages kidnapped by Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023, as they savagely attacked Israelis and foreign citizens, killing over 1,200 and kidnapping 240. The other equal objective would be to allow for enough time for the delivery of ample humanitarian aid to Gazans, devastated by Israel’s responsive attack on Hamas terrorists, backed by Iran and who have been governing Palestinians in Gaza as a Mafia or ISIS state since 2007.

There’s no way that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu with his extreme right governing partners want this deal. I’m thinking that they’re praying that when the parameters of the currently formed deal is presented to Hamas leaders, that they’ll find the terms, unacceptable and reject it.

Hamas leaders should be strongly encouraged by Qatari diplomats to accept this deal that includes a 30–60-day temporary cease-fire as Israel will never agree to recent red-line demands by Hamas for a permanent cease-fire.

I suspect that the intelligence heads of Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the U.S.A. gathering in one spot has to do with all the intelligence data in their possession that may not give the Israeli prime minister, much wiggle room. Also, these agents possess additional leverage because of the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague, giving credence to the charge brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide because of the scorched-earth way, it has been executing its war against Hamas fighters in Gaza.

Anyway, according to the following Haaretz articles, it looks like progress has been made.

As per a January 29, 2024 Haaretz report, “The Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani said that talks for a hostage release deal are “in a much better place than when we were a few weeks ago,” adding that there is a potential of these talks to “lead to a ceasefire permanently in the future. And this is what we are all aiming for.”

“The Prime Minister’s (Netanyahu) Office in Israel rejected the reports, saying they are “not true, and include conditions that are not acceptable to Israel. We will continue until complete victory.”

As per the January 29, 2024 Haaretz report by Ben Samuels, “Mediators to present Hamas with new hostage deal framework; includes 30-day pause in fighting:”

“Mediators will present to Hamas later today the framework for a new hostage deal according to NBC News, 24 hours after CIA chief Bill Burns participated in Paris negotiations alongside representatives from Israel, Egypt and Qatar.”

“The discussed framework, upon which the sides have reached general agreements, includes a 30-day pause which would lead to the release of remaining women, children and elderly hostages. During this phase, discussions would ensue surrounding a second 30-day phase – this would include Israeli soldiers and male civilian hostages.”

“Other elements of the deal remain unclear, including the ratio of Palestinian prisoners exchanged per hostage and the amount of humanitarian aid required to enter on a daily basis. It further remains unclear whether Hamas would accept an additional pause that does not include stipulations for a permanent cease-fire.”

UPDATE ON JANUARY 30, 2024…

According to the January 30, 2024 NY Times report, “Hamas’s political chief says the group is studying a new truce proposal.” This is a framework agreed upon by the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt which proposes a six-week cease-fire for Hamas to exchange some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

“The political chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, announced on Tuesday that the militant group had received a proposal to pause the fighting in Gaza, after representatives from four nations agreed to present the group with a framework that would begin with a six-week cease-fire to allow for the release of more hostages.”

“Mr. Haniyeh said in a statement that Hamas was studying the proposal that had emerged from talks over the weekend in Paris, which included officials from the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. Mr. Haniyeh added that Hamas had received an invitation to Cairo to discuss “the framework agreement from the Paris meeting.”