US, Egypt ‘hopeful’ of Gaza truce as envoys meet in Cairo

Jerusalem – AFP

US top diplomat Antony Blinken said Monday he was “hopeful” Hamas would accept the latest proposal for a long-sought Gaza truce and prisoner release deal as negotiators from the Palestinian group were due in Egypt.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, and a recent flurry of diplomacy appeared to suggest a new push towards halting the fighting.

Talks “are taking place in Cairo today”, said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services.

It was not clear whether the Hamas delegation had already arrived, but Qatari mediators were also in Cairo according to a source with knowledge of the talks.

A senior Hamas official said Sunday the Palestinian group had no “major issues” with the most recent truce plan.

Blinken — on his seventh visit to the region since October 7 — told a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia he was “hopeful” Hamas would accept a truce.

“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Blinken said, urging the group to “decide quickly”.

“I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.”

Speaking at the same meeting, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said “the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides.”

While there was no “final decision” yet, Shoukry said: “We are hopeful… I hope that all will rise to the occasion.”

The war has brought the besieged Gaza Strip to the brink of famine, UN and humanitarian aid groups say, reduced much of the territory to rubble and raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

In southern Gaza, an AFP correspondent, witnesses and rescuers reported air strikes overnight on Rafah, where the majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have sought refuge near the border with Egypt.

At least 22 people were killed in the city, medics and the Civil Defence agency said, with witnesses telling AFP at least three houses had been hit.

– ‘Living in hell’ –

A Hamas source close to the talks has told AFP the group is keen for a deal that “guarantees a permanent cease-fire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for (a prisoner) exchange and an end to the siege” in Gaza.

In Israel, protesters have demanded that the government secure the release of the 129 hostages estimated to remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

They were seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel has since killed at least 34,488 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the local health ministry.

The tally includes at least 34 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement on Monday said.

Israel has pledged to invade Rafah despite mounting global concern for civilians sheltering there, but Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the government may “suspend” the invasion if an agreement is reached.

Blinken reaffirmed US opposition to the planned Israeli offensive.

“We have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected,” he said.

High temperatures in crowded Rafah have turned makeshift shelters made from plastic tarps into sweltering ovens.

“We’re living in hell,” said displaced Palestinian Hanane Saber, 41.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said that “as the weather gets warmer, the risk of disease spreading increases”, a threat exacerbated by uncleared rubbish.

According to the Hamas source, the latest plan proposes an Israeli withdrawal from two main roads through the coastal territory to allow Gazans to return to the heavily impacted north.

Hamas negotiator Zaher Jabareen told AFP that “success or failure” will be determined by “the ability to reach a permanent cease-fire decision” — a condition Israel has rejected before — and to agree “clear” plans for reconstruction of war-battered Gaza.

The Axios news website, citing Israeli officials, reported that Israel’s latest proposal includes a willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” after hostages are released.

As diplomatic efforts intensified, a State Department official said Blinken will also travel to Israel and neighbouring Jordan later this week.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone Sunday about the truce negotiations and “increases in the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza”, the White House said.

They discussed “preparations” to open new crossings to northern Gaza, where conditions have been particularly dire, it added.