Egypt sends delegation to broker cease-fire
CAIRO — Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel for talks Friday seeking to push through a cease-fire agreement with Hamas and avert an Israeli offensive on Gaza’s town of Rafah – on the border with Egypt – which it warned could ruin regional stability, officials said.
Egypt’s top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, led the delegation and planned to discuss with Israel a “new vision” for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, an Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the mission freely.
As the war drags on and casualties mount, there has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease fire.
Friday’s talks focused at first on a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimum restrictions,” the Egyptian official said.
The official said mediators are working on a compromise that will answer most of both parties’ main demands, then lead to continued negotiations with the goal of a larger deal to end the war. A Western diplomat in Cairo said that Egypt’s intensified efforts for a cease-fire aim to avert a Rafah offensive. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the developments.
Hamas has said it will not back down from its demands for a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops, both of which Israel has rejected. Israel says it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and that it will retain a security presence in Gaza..
In a statement Friday, Hamas said it is open to any “ideas or suggestions” that take into consideration the needs of the Palestinian people such as an end Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced people to their homes and an Israeli withdrawal.
Both Israeli and Egyptian officials confirmed the Egyptian delegation had arrived in Tel Aviv. Later, the Egyptian official said meetings had concluded and that there was an agreement to work out a draft deal, but he did not elaborate.
On Thursday night, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group fired anti-tank missiles and artillery shells at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed border area, killing an Israeli civilian.
Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed the convoy shortly before midnight Thursday, destroying two vehicles.