Cairo – An official in the Palestinian faction movement told Reuters that the movement’s negotiators began in Cairo on Saturday intensive talks regarding a possible truce in the war waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip, which may include the return of some hostages held by the movement.
CIA Director William Burns is also in Cairo.
The delegation of the faction movement arrived from the movement’s political office in Qatar, which seeks, along with Egypt, to mediate a new truce in the Strip, which witnessed a short-lived truce in November, amid mounting international discontent over the high death toll in Gaza and the plight of its large population. 2.3 million people.
Taher Al-Nono, an official in the faction movement and advisor to the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told Reuters, “The movement’s delegation began its meetings today with the mediator brothers in Cairo to complete ceasefire discussions with the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and we are dealing with the proposals that we received with all seriousness, responsibility, and positivity.”
He added, “Any agreement that can be reached must include our national demands, which include a complete and sustainable cessation of the aggression, a comprehensive and complete withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip with the return of the displaced to their places of residence without restrictions, a real prisoner exchange deal with Reconstruction, and an end to the siege.”
An Egyptian security source told Reuters, “The results today will be different from every time, and we have reached consensus on many points, and a few points remain.”
But an Israeli official said on Saturday, “Israel will not, under any circumstances, agree to end the war within the framework of any agreement to release our hostages,” indicating that the basic position has not changed.
The war began following the faction movement launched a cross-border attack on October 7, killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking 252 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
Health authorities in Gaza say that the Israeli attack has so far resulted in the death of more than 34,600 Palestinians and the injury of more than 77,000, and has also caused devastation in the coastal strip.
Israeli forces said on Saturday that they killed Ayman Zoroub, who they say was a commander of Islamic Jihad forces in southern Gaza and participated in the October 7 attack.
* Hope is increasing in reaching a truce agreement
Before the talks began, a Palestinian official expressed optimism regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement.
A Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts told Reuters, requesting that his name not be published, “Things look better this time, but whether there is an agreement soon depends on whether Israel provides what is required to achieve this.”
The United States, Israel and other Western countries classify the factional movement as a terrorist group. However, Washington urged the movement to enter into an agreement.
But the talks faltered amid the faction movement’s insistence on a long-announced demand that Israel commit to ending the attack that has been ongoing for nearly seven months, and Israel’s insistence on resuming operations aimed at disarming and dismantling the movement following any truce.
The faction movement said on Friday that it would come to Cairo “in a positive spirit” following studying the latest proposal for an agreement, much of which has not been announced.
Israel initially agreed to conditions that one source said included the return of between 20 and 33 hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees and a cessation of fighting for weeks.
If that happens, regarding 100 hostages will remain in Gaza, some of whom Israel says died there. The source, who requested that his name or nationality not be mentioned, told Reuters that their return may require another agreement.
The source added, “This may require an actual, if not official, end to the war unless Israel recovers them in one way or another by force or by exerting sufficient military pressure to force the faction movement to retreat.”
Egyptian sources said that CIA Director Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday. He participated in previous rounds of truce talks, and Washington indicated that progress was likely to be made this time.
US intelligence declined to comment on Burns’ visit program.
Egypt resumed trying to revive negotiations late last month, as it was concerned regarding the possibility of Israel launching an attack on the faction movement in Rafah in southern Gaza, where there are more than a million displaced Palestinians near the border with Egypt.
According to UN officials, any major Israeli operation in Rafah would deal a heavy blow to the fragile humanitarian operations in Gaza and put the lives of many at risk. Israel says that nothing will deter it from controlling Rafah in the end, and that it is working on developing a plan to evacuate civilians.
An informed official said that the Cairo talks are taking place on Saturday at a time when Qatar is reviewing its mediation role.
The official added that Qatar may stop hosting the political office of the faction movement and that he does not know whether Doha will ask the movement’s delegations to leave if the office is closed.
Reuters
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2024-05-05 08:03:59
