By Ibrahim Al-Khazen
CAIRO (AA) - An Egyptian news channel said Wednesday that “notable consensuses” had been reached on contentious points in ongoing talks in Cairo on reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The talks are continuing in Cairo with the presence of delegations from Qatar, the US and the Palestinian group Hamas, the Al-Qahera News Channel reported, citing a senior Egyptian source and without mentioning Israeli participation.
The source said that “talks have been ongoing since 10 a.m. (0700GMT) with notable consensuses on some contentious points.”
They also pointed to Egyptian efforts to maintain the negotiating track.
The source added that “the Egyptian security delegation stressed to all participating parties the danger of escalation and the importance of sticking to the negotiating path.”
According to the channel, “Egypt's communication with various parties, especially Israel, the United States and Hamas, has not stopped to maintain the ongoing negotiation track and avoid escalation until a cease-fire agreement and cessation of hostilities become a reality on the ground.”
Hamas said Monday evening that it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal drawn by Egypt and Qatar.
But Israel said the truce offer accepted by Hamas did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah in order to apply "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people.
More than 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,400 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala