The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that Washington is planning to submit a final agreement proposal to stop the war in the Gaza Strip.
The sources added that Washington is consulting with Doha and Cairo on the features of a final ceasefire agreement, and that the failure of both parties to accept a final agreement that Washington intends to present could mean the end of the US-led negotiations.
Officials told the newspaper that Washington, Cairo and Doha were working on the final proposal before the bodies of the detained prisoners were found.
An American official also confirmed that the killing of prisoners does not hinder reaching an agreement, but rather should be an additional incentive to achieve it in this final stage.
The sources confirmed to the newspaper that last week’s talks focused on prisoners to be exchanged for specific Palestinian prisoners held inside Israel, and that the first stage included the slain American-Israeli prisoner, along with women, the elderly, the sick and the wounded.
Officials expressed their fear that the number of living prisoners may not exceed dozens, and that negotiations have now become more complicated after confirming the death of the six prisoners.
Yesterday, Sunday, the Israeli occupation army announced the recovery of the bodies of 6 detainees after they were found inside a tunnel in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, confirming their identities.
For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced that the prisoners were killed by the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and held Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the US administration responsible for their deaths and the deaths of the prisoners who preceded them.
US President Joe Biden announced that among the six bodies found in Gaza was the body of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg Polin, expressing his sadness and anger over his death.
In the same context, the White House said that President Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris will meet today, Monday, with the American negotiating team following the killing of the American prisoner who was being held in Gaza.
The White House added that Biden and Harris will discuss with the negotiating team pushing for an agreement that would secure the release of the remaining prisoners.