Gaza cease-fire proposal includes prisoner swap deal, return of displaced Palestinians: Report

By Ibrahim Al Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – A Gaza cease-fire proposal includes a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas and the return of displaced Palestinians in the besieged enclave, Egyptian media reported late Sunday.

The indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel are ongoing, the Cairo-based news channel Al-Qahira Al-Ikhbariya reported, citing a “high-ranking” source.

“The Hamas delegation has held meetings with Egyptian General Intelligence officials ahead of the commencement of formal negotiations,'' the source added.

It described the efforts by Egypt to bridge gaps and reach an agreement to halt hostilities in the Gaza Strip as “intensive.”

The source pointed out that there is consensus among Egypt, the US, and Qatar on the necessity of reaching a humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the Israeli War Cabinet decided to send a delegation to Cairo to participate in negotiations on reaching a deal to swap hostages with Hamas, according to Israeli media.

Qatar, Egypt and the US are trying to reach a hostage swap deal and cease-fire in Gaza, as the first pause in fighting lasted only a week in late November last year, which resulted in limited aid entering the Gaza Strip as well as exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children detained in Israeli jails.

Israel is holding at least 9,100 Palestinians in its prisons, while there are an estimated 134 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas has announced that 70 of the hostages have been killed in various Israeli airstrikes.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack early last October by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

Nearly 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and almost 75,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

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 (ICJ), which recently asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul