CAIRO (Reuters) – Hamas negotiators arrived in Cairo on Saturday where negotiations on the establishment of a truce in Gaza are to continue, an official of the Palestinian Islamist movement told Reuters.
On Friday, William Burns, the director of the CIA, visited the Egyptian capital for a new round of talks.
Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, has undertaken mediation between the two parties to negotiate a ceasefire agreement associated with the release of Israeli hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.
The compromise which was discussed last week in Cairo, and which was validated by Israel, provides for an agreement on the release of fewer than 40 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, according to sources close to the negotiations.
Secondly, the truce should result in a “period of lasting calm”, a compromise formula defined by Israel in response to Hamas’ request for a permanent ceasefire.
In this context, Israel would grant freedom of movement between the north and south of the Gaza Strip and initiate a partial withdrawal of its troops.
The mediators are still awaiting Hamas’ response to this proposal, deemed “extraordinarily generous” by the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken.
(Nidal al-Mughrabi; French version Nicolas Delame)
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