Egyptian TV (Cairo News) reported a high-ranking Egyptian source denying the existence of "disagreements" in the Cairo Quartet meeting regarding ways to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and finalize a prisoner exchange agreement. Israeli media reported that the meeting concluded and the Israeli delegation left. The Egyptian source also confirmed that the discussions, involving Egypt, the U.S., Qatar, and Israel, had a "positive" atmosphere and would continue. Earlier, another Egyptian source stated that talks would continue over the next three days.
However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the conclusion of the Cairo Quartet meeting, indicating that the head of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) David Barnea left the Egyptian capital. The newspaper noted that Israel did not provide its official response to a proposal from Hamas regarding the prisoner exchange, mentioning that the Israeli delegation attended the Cairo meeting "only to listen."
In a related statement, Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said it is "too early" to discuss the details of the Cairo negotiations, according to Al-Aqsa Radio.
Later, Axios news site cited an American and an Israeli official saying that U.S. President Joe Biden informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that in any new prisoner exchange deal, he should release more Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli captive that Hamas releases.
The officials added that Biden and Netanyahu consider Hamas's demand for the release of thousands of prisoners, including those convicted of killing Israelis, to be "exaggerated." They attributed to Netanyahu a statement during his phone call with Biden, indicating that Israel is willing to release three Palestinians for each Israeli captive released, the same ratio used in the previous prisoner exchange deal.
Earlier, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that Netanyahu sent his advisor Ofir Akunis to the Cairo meeting to prevent Mossad chief David Barnea from exceeding the mandate granted to him regarding negotiations for the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. This was Akunis's first involvement in meetings specifically for negotiating the prisoner exchange, according to the authority. The Broadcasting Authority stated that Akunis was part of the delegation "to prevent any concession that does not align with Netanyahu's view."
