Adam Tuite, a retired U.S. military lawyer who has followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, said the report is a step towards a ceasefire.

Speaking from the U.K. to mark the 50th anniversary of a successful armed struggle to end the occupation of Palestine, Tuite said it might be “better, I think, for Israel to start a process of de-escalating rather than escalate.”

“I think I would expect at least the Israeli side to be open to it but I wouldn’t have been very optimistic about it,” he said.

Netanyahu has expressed deep scepticism about negotiations between Palestinians and Israel on whether a two-state solution is possible.

Israel wants a return to the pre-1967 borders that are defined by a shared border with Israel, and says a sovereign Palestinian state must be demilitarized and recognized a sovereign state through “full citizenship rights.”

However, the Trump administration has criticised a lack of progress in peace talks and is considered unlikely to sign off on any deal that removes an obstacle to Israel’s settlement of the Palestinian territories, known as the West Bank.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Monday that they do not expect an update on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until the president returns from his Asia-Pacific tour next week.