Egypt to host Gaza ceasefire talks on Sunday

CAIRO – 2 March 2024: Cairo will host – on Sunday- negotiations to reach a humanitarian truce between the Palestinian Hamas movement and Israel in Gaza, a high-ranking Egyptian source told Al Qahera News on Saturday.

The source added that Egypt is exerting tremendous efforts to reach a fair truce agreement ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar during which Muslims worldwide fast from dawn to sunset.

The source also confirmed that Egypt continues airdropping humanitarian aid and food onto the Gaza Strip for more than 2 million Palestinians suffering from systematic starvation by Israeli occupation forces.

An official close to Hamas told AFP that a delegation from the movement headed to Egypt on Saturday evening for the ceasefire agreement and a prisoner swap deal. He added, on condition of anonymity, that Hamas will hand Egypt over the response to the Paris proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement.

Under this proposal, there will be a six-week truce during which Hamas will release 42 Israeli women and children (under the age of 18), in addition to the sick and elderly. It clarified that each Israeli captive will be exchanged for ten Palestinian prisoners daily.

The Israeli war in Gaza has been ongoing since October 7, and both Israel and Hamas have yet to reach a reliable understanding for a ceasefire and a prisoner deal to free more than 100 captives in the strip.

While Egypt, Qatar, and the United States remain cautiously optimistic about a potential ceasefire deal in the coming days, Hamas and Israel have shown no signs of reaching an agreement thus far.

Egypt has been actively working towards achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, emphasizing the disastrous consequences of the Israeli attacks.

However, reaching a permanent ceasefire faces significant challenges.

The world is pinning hopes on Egypt and Qatar, which mediated a week-long truce between Israel, resulting in the freeing of over 100 captives held by Hamas and 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.