Gaza ceasefire quartet-talks still on going in Cairo

CAIRO – 5 March 2024: A high-ranking Egyptian source told al Qahera news channel that talks hosted in Cairo to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip are still continuing, and a new round of negotiations expected be held between all parties, Wednesday.

The second round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations kicked off in Cairo, Monday between delegations of Egypt, Qatar, Hamas, and the United States of America.

Cairo hosted the first round of negotiations on Sunday with the aim 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, 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.

During meeting with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag on Monday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the necessity of reaching an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Strip, and enforcing the calm before the holy month of Ramadan, so that the flow of humanitarian aid and relief materials can be increased in quantities sufficient for the needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Shoukry also stressed the humanitarian and legal responsibility that the Security Council bears to ensure the full implementation of the provisions of Resolution 2720, and to put pressure on Israel to comply with the provisions of international law and remove the obstacles it places in the way of the aid entry process.