Egypt’s president hopeful of Gaza cease-fire in coming days

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) – Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Wednesday that he is hopeful for a cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip in the coming few days.

“We hope that a cease-fire will be reached in the coming days to start a real relief for our people in the Gaza Strip in all fields,” Sisi said at an event in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said he hopes to have a cease-fire in Gaza by next Monday.

Egypt, Qatar and the US are mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage-prisoner swap.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive in return for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 29,954 and injured over 70,000 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar