CAIRO: Egypt and Qatar are sponsoring a new round of talks to start Thursday in Cairo aimed at achieving “calm” in the besieged Gaza Strip as well as a prisoner-hostage exchange, AFP reported, citing an Egyptian official.
According to a source within a Palestinian resistance group, Hamas familiar with the matter, as cited by AFP, the group has agreed to participate in the talks with the objective of securing “a ceasefire, an end to the war, and a prisoner exchange deal.” Both sources spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak to the media.
The Egyptian official emphasized Cairo’s push for flexibility from both parties to secure a truce in Gaza, where the health ministry reports nearly 28,000 casualties over four months of conflict. “Egypt is making intense and persistent efforts to reach a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip,” the official stated.
Gaza Truce Proposal
A week prior, a source within Hamas revealed that the proposed truce entails a six-week cessation of hostilities, a prisoner-hostage exchange, and increased aid for Gaza. Negotiations have continued since the initial proposal.
On Tuesday, Egypt and Qatar announced that Hamas had responded to a new proposal, with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani describing the reply as “positive, with some comments.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amid his fifth crisis tour in the Middle East since the conflict’s start, expressed intentions to discuss Hamas’s response with Israeli leaders.
Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Mossad was thoroughly evaluating the details of the Palestinian group’s response, Netanyahu himself emphasized Israel’s steadfast commitment to its war objectives. “We are on the way to total victory, and we will not stop,” Netanyahu asserted.
