Hamas chief in Egypt for talks on Gaza truce

Palestinian Territories – AFP

The leader of Hamas travelled to Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian group may be inching toward another truce and prisoner swap deal.

The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on the “aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters”, the group said in a statement.

He was due to meet Egypt’s spy chief for talks on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners”, a source close to the group told AFP.

Haniyeh — who earlier met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Qatar — was heading a “high-level delegation” to Egypt, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, the source said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told families of prisoners held by Hamas late Tuesday that he had twice sent his spy chief to Europe in efforts intended to “free our hostages”.

“It’s our duty, I’m responsible for the release of all the hostages,” the premier told the relatives of some of the 129 captives still believed to be held in Gaza.

“Saving them is a supreme task.

“I have just sent the head of Mossad to Europe twice to promote a process to free our hostages. I will spare no effort on the subject, and our duty is to bring them all back.”

US news site Axios reported Monday that Mossad chief David Barnea had met CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe.

Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, helped broker a week-long truce in November in which 80 Israelis were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians.

A source close to Hamas told AFP the Egypt talks would focus on proposals including a week-long truce that would see the release of 40 Israeli hostages, including women, children and male non-combatants.

The truce would be open to extension if there is agreement on new conditions for further releases, the source said, adding that the proposals had been discussed between Qatar and Israel with the knowledge of the US administration.

Israel has killed 19,667 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October 7 when Hamas fighters attacked Israeli check-posts, killing around 1,140 soldiers and others and took 250 prisoners.