Senior Hamas Delegation Heading to Cairo for New Gaza Ceasefire Talks
By Staff, Agencies
A senior delegation from the Hamas movement is scheduled to head to Cairo tomorrow, Saturday, according to a senior Palestinian official.
The Palestinian group's delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, the source said on Friday.
According to the senior official, new proposals have been put forward in an effort to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
In March, "Israel" reneged on a ceasefire that brought two months of relative calm and resumed its war on the Gaza Strip.
On April 8, "Israeli" media reported that "Israel" received Egypt's updated proposal for a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The deal revolves around the release of eight living captives from the Gaza Strip in exchange for a truce that lasts between 40 and 70 days.
Captives would be released in stages; however, "Israeli" media outlets said that neither the Palestinian Resistance led by Hamas nor the "Israeli" government had issued their final response to the deal.
In detail, the proposal includes guarantees for a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of "Israeli" occupation forces from the Gaza Strip.
Among the eight captives to be released is "Israeli"-American soldier Edan Alexander, whom Hamas had previously offered to release.
Moreover, the deal would also allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.
According to reports, the Egyptian deal also guarantees that negotiations begin for a second phase of the agreement.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the "Israeli" military renewed its aggression on the enclave, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to more than 50,000.
A day earlier, US President Donald Trump and "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more captives released from the Palestinian territory.
"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office.
On his part, Trump said, "We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We're looking at another ceasefire, we'll see what happens."
The US, Qatar, and Egypt brokered a ceasefire whose first phase took effect on January 19, before ending with "Israel's" resumption of air strikes on Gaza on March 18.
