NBC-Israel Want Rafah Operations Excluded From Any Ceasefire Deal

NBC News reporting that according to Israeli officials, Israel refuses to agree to any deal with Hamas that does not enable it to engage in a military offensive in Rafah, even during a ceasefire. According to NBC, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the country's military would enter the city “with or without” a deal with Hamas.
Israel demands that Rafah be walled off from a cease-fire deal, according to four current and one former U.S. officials familiar with the discussions."

• Another Israeli official claimed that the claim of 'walling off' the Rafah operation from a ceasefire was incorrect, citing Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who claimed that "This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza Strip, or until the first hostage returns".
• Given the US' increasingly strained support for Israel, it is unlikely that the White House would offer its backing to a ceasefire deal that sees the IDF continue any offensive operations around Rafah (not to mention it likely proving a significant red line for Hamas).
• Al Jazeera is reporting that CIA Director William Burns will return to the US after the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo. Burns earlier in the week visited Israel for talks with Netanyahu.