Gaza cease-fire talks to resume Sunday in Cairo: Egyptian media

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO (AA) — Negotiations to secure a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip after roughly half a year of fighting between the Israel army and Palestinian resistance groups will resume in Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian media reported.

This was reported by private broadcaster Al-Qahera News on Saturday, citing unnamed "high-level Egyptian sources," while no official statement has been issued by Egyptian authorities as of 1345 GMT.

The sources added that the US' CIA Director Bill Burns, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, and an Israeli delegation are also participating in the talks.

A senior delegation from Gaza-based group Hamas is also expected to also arrive in Cairo at Egypt's invitation Sunday to discuss developments related to the cease-fire in Gaza, the report further said.

On Friday, a US administration official said President Joe Biden recently sent two special letters to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani related to accelerating cease-fire negotiations, according to US media.

The official said Biden called on Egypt and Qatar in his letters to "pressure Hamas to accelerate cease-fire negotiations."

There was no immediate comment from Cairo or Doha on the matter.

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

More than 33,100 Palestinians have since been killed and over 75,800 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 is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala