Gaza Strip: Egypt Accelerates Contacts for Ceasefire

May 3, 2024 Hour: 6:05 pm

On Friday, the daily Al Ahram revealed that Egypt’s government has stepped up its contacts over the past week to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, although many issues remain to be resolved.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s called a truce, a ceasefire or anything else, as long as it gives the Palestinian people breathing space and time for Israelis and Palestinians to listen to the mediators,” a source briefed on the progress of the talks told the newspaper.

“The aim is to reach a long-term compromise and allow humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave,” he said.

The publication noted that these comments were made before the arrival in Israel of a high-level Egyptian security delegation earlier this week.

Hamas says delegation heading to Cairo for truce talks: Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) –

Hamas said its delegation will travel to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza ceasefire talks with a ‘positive spirit’ in the latest effort to halt almost… https://t.co/QHyAqdAMNL pic.twitter.com/Y1xIdUZgIz

— zeta panama (@zetacompa)
May 3, 2024

The idea was to convince the Israelis to accept some of the demands of Hamas and other Palestinian factions in order to reach a minimum agreement at this stage.

Later, senior leaders of the Islamist movement arrived in Cairo to follow up on the talks.

However, the source said there are still disagreements on a number of sensitive issues, because Hamas wants more guarantees that Israel will deliver on its promises, especially on the phased withdrawal of its troops and the amount of aid for the coastal enclave.

There are also differences over the length of the lull in fighting and the return of the displaced Palestinian population to the north of the territory.

The newspaper noted that an Israeli delegation due to arrive here on Tuesday postponed its travel plans after Hamas would not accept the negotiated terms, although it promised to present a new proposal.

“We are waiting and, in the meantime, working on alternatives in case the agreement does not materialise,” the source said.

The proposal now under consideration is not a new plan, but a draft that compiles as many points of agreement as possible among the various offers presented to the parties since November, Al Ahram said.

The source explained that a deal appears difficult, though not impossible, citing the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet “sooner rather than later” will approve a ground offensive against the southern city of Rafah, which they see as Hamas’s last stronghold.

Meanwhile, that group, he added, “is not willing to settle for a few weeks of truce during which it will hand over Israeli hostages when it knows that Netanyahu will not change his mind about the offensive”.

We are trying to save Gaza, which has already been almost completely reduced to rubble, we want to open a door to a Palestinian state, he stressed.