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[text/observer network chen sijia] on september 7 local time, us central intelligence agency director william burns said at an event in the uk that the united states is working with qatar and egypt to develop a new plan to propose a ceasefire agreement that both israel and the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas) can accept. the mediator is expected to put forward detailed proposals in the next few days.

according to the jerusalem post on the 7th, in response to burns' statement, israeli officials responded later that day that the united states may "feel helpless" in the face of hamas, so the united states chose to put pressure on israel to promote a ceasefire agreement. israeli officials believe that because american citizens have been detained by hamas, the united states is eager to reach an agreement through negotiations.

“if they could reach an agreement with hamas to release the american citizens they are holding, they would probably do so,” the israeli official said. “right now, they are choosing to put pressure on israel instead of hamas. the united states should have long ago asked qatar to expel hamas officials from its territory, but that has not happened.”

the israeli officials claimed that the us government had been "optimistic," praising israel and asking hamas to compromise, but the situation changed after the israeli army found the bodies of the six detainees. "it seems that washington feels helpless in the face of hamas and has chosen to put pressure on israel, which has shown its willingness to agree to make concessions for the agreement."

on september 1, local time, the israeli defense forces issued a statement saying that the israeli army found the bodies of six detainees in an underground tunnel in the southern gaza strip city of rafah, including a person with dual israeli and american citizenship. the israeli military said that these detainees may have been killed by hamas militants a day or two before they were found.

the ceasefire negotiations in gaza promoted by the united states, qatar and egypt have been going on for months, but hamas and israel have not been able to reach an agreement so far. burns said on the 7th that the mediators are working hard to develop "agreement text and creative solutions" to seek a ceasefire agreement acceptable to both sides of the conflict, and the mediators are expected to put forward detailed proposals in the next few days.

burns said that 90% of the details of the agreement have been agreed upon, but the last 10% is the most difficult. he hopes that the leaders of israel and hamas can make "some difficult choices and compromises." "i hope they can recognize the interests involved and are willing to move forward on this basis."

however, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu denied the claim that a ceasefire agreement was close on the 5th. he told fox news that such claims were "completely inaccurate" and "unfortunately, no agreement has been reached yet."

the issue of the "philadelphia corridor" is one of the main obstacles to the ceasefire negotiations in gaza. the "philadelphia corridor" is located at the border between the gaza strip and egypt. the israeli army announced in may this year that it had seized control of the area from hamas. netanyahu insisted on stationing troops in the "philadelphia corridor" to prevent hamas from smuggling weapons from egypt.

hamas demands that israel withdraw its troops from the gaza strip. hamas chief negotiator khalil haya reiterated to al jazeera on the 1st that the organization will not sign a ceasefire agreement unless israel completely withdraws from the gaza strip.

however, faced with pressure from both inside and outside israel, the netanyahu government showed signs of making concessions. according to the times of israel, the white house said on the 3rd that israel agreed to withdraw from the "philadelphia corridor" in the second phase of the exchange of detained persons. john kirby, strategic communications coordinator of the white house national security council, also said that israel agreed to withdraw from all densely populated areas in the first phase, including areas adjacent to the "philadelphia corridor".

last week, israel saw the largest demonstration since the start of the new israeli-palestinian conflict. according to cnn, about 700,000 people participated in the demonstrations across israel, including 550,000 protesters in tel aviv, who demanded that netanyahu reach a ceasefire agreement immediately and that hamas release the detained israeli personnel as soon as possible.

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