Egypt and Qatar are sponsoring "a new round of negotiations" which will begin Thursday in Cairo and aim to obtain "calm in the Gaza Strip" as well as an exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages, a government official announced on Wednesday. Egyptian official at AFP.
Cairo urges “both parties to show the necessary flexibility” to reach a truce in Gaza, added this official on condition of anonymity, assuring that “Egypt was making intense and persistent efforts to reach an agreement truce” between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.
A Hamas source close to the matter, also speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed to AFP that Hamas had accepted this new round of negotiations, with the objective of "a ceasefire, the end of war and an exchange of prisoners.
“Positive” response from Hamas
Last week, the Palestinian Islamist movement said the proposed new truce included a six-week pause in fighting and an exchange of hostages and prisoners, as well as an increase in aid to Gaza.
Talks have been ongoing ever since.
On Tuesday, Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said he had received a "generally positive" response from Hamas regarding "the general framework of the hostage agreement."
Also read: Israel-Hamas: hostages, truce in Gaza, role of the United States and Qatar… what we know about the possible agreement
For its part, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the country's foreign intelligence services were studying this Hamas response.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, on tour in the region, indicated Wednesday in Jerusalem that he hoped for an agreement on the hostages held in Gaza, while noting that there remained “a lot of work” to achieve this and progress on the delivery of aid to the site.