Israel’s negotiating team set to fly to Egypt for Gaza cease-fire talks

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli negotiating team is set to fly to Egypt on Thursday to pursue talks for a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap with Hamas.

A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the delegation had returned from Qatar after attending a four-party summit with mediators.

“Discussed at the meeting were the clauses of the deal on returning the hostages and ways to implement the outline, while ensuring all the objectives of the war,” it added.

For months, efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a hostage exchange and cease-fire have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Over 38,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala