Egypt’s Intelligence Chief, Hamas’ Haneya coordinate truce negotiations in phone call

CAIRO – 2 May 2024: A high-profile source told Al Qahera News Thursday that Chief of the General Intelligence Directorate Abbas Kamel made a phone call with Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haneya as a delegation from the Palestinian entity will arrive in Cairo in two days to continue negotiations aimed at a truce with Israel.

On Monday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held in Riyadh, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken convened with the foreign minister of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Jordan as well as the secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to confer over ongoing moves to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Later on the same day, President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi received a phone call from President Jo Biden to discuss the same matter, including a hostage-swap agreement. There was congruence that the Israeli intended military land operation in Palestinian Rafah would worsen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, and that the persistence of the war would lead to more military escalation in the Middle East.

The two presidents also affirmed the importance of the two-state solution in order to ensure long-term peace and stability. President Sisi equally urged that Israel would eliminate obstacles hindering the sufficient supply of humanitarian aid.

The following day, The Egyptian president received a phone call from Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, to similarly tackle the truce negotiations, given that the Gulf state hosts the leaders of Hamas and has been part of most rounds of those negotiations.