The leader of Hamasmade his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, typically intervenes in diplomacy publicly only when progress seems likely.He last travelled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only agreement on a ceasefire in the war so far, a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released.
Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group which is also holding hostages in Gaza, said its leader would also visit Egypt in coming days to discuss a possible end to the war. A source briefed on talks said envoys were discussing which of the hostages still held by militants in Gaza could be freed in a new truce, and what prisoners Israel might release in return.
Israel was insisting all remaining women and infirm men among hostages be released, the source said, declining to be identified. Palestinians convicted of serious offences could be on the list of prisoners to be freed. The source described the negotiations as intensive and said a breakthrough could be possible within days.
But there remains a huge gulf between the two sides‘ publicly stated positions on any halt to fighting. Hamas rejects any further temporary pause and says it will discuss only a permanent ceasefire. Israel has ruled that out, and says it will agree only limited humanitarian pauses until Hamas is defeated. Haniyeh was „in Cairo today to listen to whether Israel has made new proposals or whether Cairo has some too. It is early to speak of expectations,“ the Palestinian official said. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that the war would end only with Hamas eradicated, all hostages freed and Gaza posing no more threat to Israel. „Whoever thinks we will stop is detached from reality…All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are dead men walking,“ he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel has faced increasing pressure from its Western allies to curb a military onslaught in Gaza that has laid waste to much of the densely populated coastal enclave. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he did not expect a second Israel-Hamas hostage release deal to be struck soon, though he added in remarks to reporters: „We’re pushing.“
Israel believes 129 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 21 are feared to have died in captivity. A weeklong ceasefire that had allowed the release of dozens of hostages collapsed on Dec. 1 over disagreements about the remaining hostages. The Israeli military’s announcement on Friday that its forces had mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza City underscored the risks Israel’s campaign in Gaza poses to the remaining hostages.
It has prompted desperate pleas from their families for an immediate deal to release them. On Tuesday, Netanyahu met with representatives from the families and again pledged to bring them home. Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, also told foreign ambassadors that the country was willing to accept another ceasefire to free those held captive by Hamas. The CIA director, William Burns, met in Warsaw on Monday with David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad, and Qatar’s PM for talks aimed at restarting hostage and prisoner exchanges, according to US officials.
Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group which is also holding hostages in Gaza, said its leader would also visit Egypt in coming days to discuss a possible end to the war. A source briefed on talks said envoys were discussing which of the hostages still held by militants in Gaza could be freed in a new truce, and what prisoners Israel might release in return.
Israel was insisting all remaining women and infirm men among hostages be released, the source said, declining to be identified. Palestinians convicted of serious offences could be on the list of prisoners to be freed. The source described the negotiations as intensive and said a breakthrough could be possible within days.
But there remains a huge gulf between the two sides‘ publicly stated positions on any halt to fighting. Hamas rejects any further temporary pause and says it will discuss only a permanent ceasefire. Israel has ruled that out, and says it will agree only limited humanitarian pauses until Hamas is defeated. Haniyeh was „in Cairo today to listen to whether Israel has made new proposals or whether Cairo has some too. It is early to speak of expectations,“ the Palestinian official said. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that the war would end only with Hamas eradicated, all hostages freed and Gaza posing no more threat to Israel. „Whoever thinks we will stop is detached from reality…All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are dead men walking,“ he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel has faced increasing pressure from its Western allies to curb a military onslaught in Gaza that has laid waste to much of the densely populated coastal enclave. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he did not expect a second Israel-Hamas hostage release deal to be struck soon, though he added in remarks to reporters: „We’re pushing.“
Israel believes 129 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 21 are feared to have died in captivity. A weeklong ceasefire that had allowed the release of dozens of hostages collapsed on Dec. 1 over disagreements about the remaining hostages. The Israeli military’s announcement on Friday that its forces had mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza City underscored the risks Israel’s campaign in Gaza poses to the remaining hostages.
It has prompted desperate pleas from their families for an immediate deal to release them. On Tuesday, Netanyahu met with representatives from the families and again pledged to bring them home. Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, also told foreign ambassadors that the country was willing to accept another ceasefire to free those held captive by Hamas. The CIA director, William Burns, met in Warsaw on Monday with David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad, and Qatar’s PM for talks aimed at restarting hostage and prisoner exchanges, according to US officials.
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