Israeli delegation to visit Cairo on Sunday to resume hostage swap talks

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) – An Israeli delegation will travel to Egypt on Sunday to participate in talks on a hostage swap deal with the Palestinian group Hamas, an Israeli media outlet reported on Saturday.

The negotiating delegation, which includes representatives from the intelligence agency Mossad, the internal security agency Shin Bet, and the military intelligence agency Aman, will travel to Cairo on Sunday to participate in talks about the hostage swap deal between Israel and Hamas, according to Channel 12.

The broadcaster said Egypt has requested Tel Aviv to present proposals that can be conveyed to Hamas.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send a delegation representing Tel Aviv to the next round of indirect talks with Hamas in Doha and Cairo.

Netanyahu announced that his country will resume negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement on a hostage swap and a long-term cease-fire in Gaza.

Qatar, Egypt, and the US are trying to reach a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, as the first pause 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.

Tel Aviv currently holds at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, while there are an estimated 134 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas has announced the death of 70 of them in random Israeli airstrikes.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, in addition to mass destruction, displacement and famine conditions.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 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 Rania Abu Shamala