Israeli negotiating team returns from Cairo to Tel Aviv: Public broadcaster

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli negotiating team returned to Tel Aviv on Sunday evening from Cairo after taking part in Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap deal talks with Palestinian factions, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.

The authority, citing unnamed Israeli officials, indicated that "the chances of making progress in the talks today are slim."

“The delegation’s mandate does not allow for reaching an agreement regarding the Philadelphi Corridor” in the border city of Rafah with Egypt, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on maintaining military control over, the officials added.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli delegation left for Cairo to discuss a hostage swap deal with Hamas and a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli news website Walla reported that David Barnea, the head of Mossad, took part in a quadrilateral meeting that included the head of the CIA, William Burns, the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and the prime minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Netanyahu on Saturday pledged to US President Joe Biden that the Israeli army will withdraw one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the 14-km-long (8.7-mi) Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, while leaving a minimal number of military sites in the area.

The pledge comes as part of ongoing discussions between Israel and the US over the military offensive on the Gaza Strip and the broader implications for regional security, reported Israel's Channel 12.

The broadcaster claimed that Egypt has agreed to provide Hamas with updated maps of Israeli army positions in the Philadelphi Corridor, although Cairo has made no official statement on the matter.

The corridor, a demilitarized buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, remains one of the major sticking points in Israel-Hamas negotiations.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,400 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,400 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul