FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden, left, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Miriam Alster/Pool via REUTERS /File Photo
Talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict are making progress in Cairo and all sides have agreed on basic issues, Egypt’s state television channel Al-Qahera News said early on Monday, citing a senior Egyptian source.
Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday for fresh talks on a possible ceasefire in the six-month conflict, following the arrival on Saturday of US CIA Director William Burns.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas and neither party to the Cairo talks confirmed the Al-Qahera news report.
According to Al-Qahera, the delegations of Hamas and Qatar have left Cairo and will return within two days to agree on the terms of a final deal, while the delegations of Israel and the US will leave in a few hours. It added that consultations will continue over the next 48 hours.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not agree to a ceasefire without the release of hostages, while Hamas reiterated its demands, including a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced persons.
Netanyahu said that despite growing international pressure, Israel will not give in to the “extreme” demands of Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas.
Thousands of Israeli protesters in Jerusalem rallied on Sunday, demanding the release of about 130 hostages still held in Gaza.
Nearly six months into the war, Israel faced protests at home demanding an agreement to release the dwindling number of hostages taken during Hamas’ October 7 cross-border attack.
Western countries have expressed outrage at what they see as an unacceptably high number of Palestinian civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting from Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas.
The war broke out after Hamas militants attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 33,100 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli response.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: April 8, 2024 | 8:14 am IST