YnetNews.com reports: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist on the Philadelphi corridor and Hamas rejects an official announcement of ‘new proposals,’ but the Americans are not giving up, and are expected to present a mediation proposal, the second in less than a month. In Washington, they are considering submitting the proposal this weekend, on Friday or Saturday, but they are no longer defining it as a ‘final proposal, ‘ with the understanding that the difficulties are not likely to be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, Hamas in a statement issued overnight between Wednesday and Thursday rejected any new cease-fire proposals, and claimed that Netanyahu’s insistence on staying on the Philadelphi Corridor was intended to thwart a deal. ‘Pressure must be put on Netanyahu and his government and they must be bound to what was agreed upon,’ Hamas said in a statement, ‘We warn against falling into Netanyahu’s trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people.’

The U.S. administration has not yet decided whether President Joe Biden will present the proposal alone, or whether it will be presented jointly by the United States and the mediators Qatar and Egypt. Either way, there is a great deal of pessimism among those involved in the negotiations, and the feeling that the chances of a deal are very low.

The understanding is that there will be no deal as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor, and in the U.S. they are considering increasing the pressure on Netanyahu to be more flexible under the new proposal, and to demand a dramatic decrease in the number of forces in Philadelphi…”