Hamas chief joins Gaza ceasefire talks
Another round of ceasefire and prisoners swap looms between Israel and Hamas
SAID KHATIB / AFP
Daily TribuneAnother round of ceasefire and prisoners swap looms between Israel and Hamas
SAID KHATIB / AFP
The head of the Hamas terrorist group has arrived in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday to join talks with Israel on a ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel said it was willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages.
International pressure is mounting for a new truce that could ramp up aid to the besieged Palestinian territory, with the United Nations due to vote on calling for a ceasefire.
Hamas sources said Wednesday at least 11 people had been killed overnight in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip.
Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected to lead the "high-level" talks with the country's spy chief and others on "stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners," a source close to the group told Agence France-Presse.
Israel's leaders are facing growing calls to secure the release of 129 hostages they say are being held in Gaza and, on Tuesday, signalled a willingness to return to the negotiating table with Hamas.
Israeli President Issac Herzog said his country was "ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had recently sent his spy chief on two trips to Europe in an effort to "free our hostages."
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, meanwhile, released video footage on Tuesday it claimed showed two hostages alive in its custody in Gaza, ramping up pressure on Israel.
US news site Axios reported Monday that David Barnea, head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Central Intelligenc Agency director Bill Burns in Europe to discuss a potential new deal to free hostages.
Axios also reported Tuesday that Israel had offered to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least one week in exchange for more than three dozen hostages held by Hamas.
The war began when Hamas militants burst out of Gaza on 7 October, killing around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250, according to the latest Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel began a campaign of bombardment, alongside a ground invasion, that Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says has killed 19,667 people, mostly women and children.
Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, helped broker a week-long truce and hostage-prisoner swap in November in which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.