As per reports, following are the updates on the Israel-Hamas war as of Friday (24 May):
• US House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Thursday (23 May) that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ‘soon’ give an address to a joint session of Congress. Even if an invitation is formally extended, it is not entirely clear whether Prime Minister Netanyahu will accept it, given the divisive nature of such a speech. In the previous month, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for early elections in Israel to replace the prime minister after branding him ‘an obstacle to peace.’
• CIA director William Burns is expected to travel to Europe in the coming days to meet with Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in an effort to revive talks for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The high-level meeting will be the first since negotiations fell apart two weeks ago after Hamas responded to a proposal crafted by American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators with amendments deemed unacceptable by both the US and Israel.
• According to Times of Israel, it is unclear whether Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also attend the upcoming Europe meeting, as he has in the past, but Cairo will remain involved in the mediation process. This is because Egypt recently condemned recent reporting in The Times of Israel and CNN that it provided separate proposals to Israel and Hamas in the last round of negotiations, contributing to their collapse two weeks ago. Cairo also threatened to cease its mediation efforts over attempts to doubt its role — a threat made by Qatar last month as well.
• Israel on Thursday (23 May), was critical of a statement from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office that Berlin would arrest and deport Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the International Criminal Court implements a warrant for his arrest. Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, also decried the statement in a social media post, which can be found via https://x.com/Ron_Prosor/status/1792881758481826157.