After the negotiation round in Rome: Indirect talks about disarmament do not break off
**The Israeli chief negotiator in the indirect Gaza talks, David Barnea, has returned to Israel from Rome after the latest round of negotiations. The talks on the main issues will be continued in the coming days, according to the Israeli Presidential Office. The office provided no further details. Barnea, who heads the foreign intelligence service Mossad, met in Rome with CIA Chief William Burns, Qatar's Minister President Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel. The US, Qatar, and Egypt are mediating between Israel and the Islamist Hamas.
The talks have been proceeding very slowly for months. They have revolved around a multi-phased plan by US President Joe Biden since May, which aims to establish a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza War in the end. In addition, hostages in Hamas custody are to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The first phase of Biden's plan envisions a six-week truce during which a specific group of hostages will be released. The Hamas reportedly holds 115 of them, but many may no longer be alive according to Israeli estimates.
In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel will be freed. In the next phase, fighting will be permanently ceased and the remaining hostages will be released. In the final phase, according to the proposal, the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip is to begin. Netanyahu reportedly presented these conditions to the mediators during the Rome round. The trigger for the Gaza War was the unprecedented massacre of over 1,200 deaths, which the Hamas and other groups from the Gaza Strip carried out against Israelis in the South on October 7 of the previous year. [**
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After the negotiation round in Rome, there have been no indications of a Weapons truce directly resulting from the discussions between David Barnea and the other negotiators. Indirectly, the negotiations in Rome might contribute to the progress of the negotiations on the multi-phased plan aimed at establishing a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza War. Rom served as a venue for high-level meetings between Israeli, US, Qatari, and Egyptian officials, discussing key aspects of the agreement involving hostage exchanges and the rebuilding of Gaza.
