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CAIRO (Reuters) – Talks on a truce between Israel and Hamas will resume on Sunday in Cairo, Egyptian television Al Qahera reported on Saturday, citing a security source.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Israel would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday. On the other hand, a Hamas leader told Reuters that the Islamist group would wait for feedback from mediators in Cairo on their discussions with Israel.
The two parties intensified negotiations, led under the aegis of Qatar and Egypt, on a six-week suspension of the Israeli offensive in exchange for the release of 40 of the 130 hostages still in the hands of Hamas.
Hamas presented a “comprehensive” ceasefire proposal to Arab mediators and the United States in mid-March, which notably provides for the release in several stages of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving prison sentences. life imprisonment, according to a document seen by Reuters.
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These demands from the Palestinian group were described as “unrealistic” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli army continued its aerial and ground bombardments in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing 82 Palestinians in the last 24 hours, the IDF and Palestinian officials reported.
Hamas’ armed wing, Islamic Jihad, said its fighters continued to clash with Israeli soldiers around Al Chifa Hospital, the largest facility in the enclave before the start of the war.
The United Nations has warned of an imminent famine in the northern Gaza Strip, where 300,000 people are trapped in fighting. Across the enclave, more than half of the 2.3 million inhabitants could face it by July.
(Enas Alashray and Ahmed Tolba: French version Zhifan Liu)
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