Hamas delegation in Egypt’s Cairo for ceasefire talks, deal expected before Ramadan
A high-ranking delegation of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has arrived in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to hold talks on a ceasefire deal that would put an end to nearly five months of Israel’s genocidal war against the besieged Gaza Strip.
Egyptian media reports on Sunday said the Palestinian delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas’ Political Bureau, was expected to negotiate with mediators a truce agreement that would take effect across Gaza before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan next week.
The expected deal could also include a swap of 40 Israeli captives for 400 Palestinian prisoners as well as an increase in the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the besieged territory.
The reports said representatives from the United States and Qatar had also arrived in Cairo for mediation in the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel.
The Egyptian media cited an unnamed Hamas official as saying that if the Israeli regime were to meet the Palestinian resistance movement’s demands, including the occupying entity’s military withdrawal from Gaza and stepped-up humanitarian aid, the measure would “pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours.”
Earlier in the day, a source affiliated with the Gaza-based resistance movement confirmed to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network that, “The Israeli occupation imposes many obstacles that prevent reaching a temporary truce. Despite these obstacles … reaching an agreement is still possible.”
The source underlined that the most contentious issue in the truce talks is the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of the Palestinians displaced in the southern regions to the northern parts of the enclave, as well as the issue of lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza’s northern regions.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza said at least 90 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, including 14 family members whose house was targeted in Israeli strikes in a refugee camp in the southern town of Rafah.
At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on a neighborhood in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.
Amid worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at least 16 children had lost their lives as “famine spreads” in the north.
In a statement on Saturday, the UN Security Council voiced concern over “alarming levels of acute food insecurity” in Gaza and stressed “the need to take all necessary measures to protect civilians.”
The Security Council also called for “the immediate, rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance” to the enclave.
Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the its intensified violence against the Palestinians.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed some 30,410 Palestinians and injured 71,700 others, according to health authorities in Gaza.
The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million people living there.
