CIA, Mossad chiefs head to Rome to discuss Gaza cease-fire

Mossad chief David Barnea is expected to travel to Rome on Sunday to meet with CIA director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel to continue talks on a potential deal that would see the release of the hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza.

Citing unnamed Israeli and US sources, Walla reported that the sides are hoping to make progress so an agreement can be signed.

The meeting would be the third this month after two prior ones in Doha. Those talks were suspended on July 14 after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. 

On Friday, Hamas reportedly rejected two conditions set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reaching a deal for a cease-fire, prisoner exchange and hostage release, describing them as Israel's latest changes to the proposal under discussion. Reuters cited one Western source, one Palestinian source and two Egyptian sources as blaming Israel’s new demands for blocking an agreement. 

Netanyahu insists that any deal include a mechanism for verifying that armed Hamas fighters are not among the Palestinians returning north from southern Gaza. Israel is concerned that members of the militant group could infiltrate the north disguised as civilians and work to rebuild Hamas' military infrastructure there. Netanyahu is also demanding that Israel retain control of the Gaza side of the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches the length of Egypt’s border with Gaza, to prevent weapons smuggling into the enclave.

Netanyahu-Trump meeting

Separately, Netanyahu flew to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida Friday to meet with the former US president and GOP frontrunner in the upcoming presidential elections.

Israeli news outlets published photos of Netanyahu's plane, dubbed "Wings of Zion," taking off around 10:00 a.m. EST from Washington for Florida. His trip to the US capital was the first aboard the new airplane.

Netanyahu’s visit followed closed-door discussions at the White House on Thursday with current President Joe Biden and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, both of whom pushed for more flexibility on reaching a cease-fire with Hamas to end nine months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Harris offered sharper criticism than Biden did of Israel’s management of the war, expressing “serious concerns about the scale of human suffering in Gaza,” specifically mentioning the “images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety” emerging from the war zone.