A Hamas delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for talks on a ceasefire, a Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday, as mediators stepped up efforts to reach an agreement ahead of an Israeli strike. to the city of Rafah, in the south.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the delegation will discuss a ceasefire proposal delivered by Hamas to mediators Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel's response.
He did not reveal details of the latest proposals.
The war, now in its seventh month, was triggered by an attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza, in a military operation that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, 66 of them in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza health authorities. The war displaced most of the 2.3 million population and destroyed much of the densely populated enclave.
On Friday, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya said the group had received Israel's response to its ceasefire proposal and was studying it before handing over its response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators. .
Previous rounds of negotiations have failed to fill gaps in the two sides' positions. Hamas wants an agreement to permanently end the war and for Israel to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.
Israel only offered a temporary ceasefire to free around 130 hostages who remain in captivity and allow for the delivery of more humanitarian aid. He has said he will not end his operations until he achieves his goal of destroying Hamas.
Israel's foreign minister said on Saturday that a planned raid on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, could be suspended if a deal emerges to release the Israeli hostages.
Nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this Sunday (28) asked Netanyahu not to back down from an attack on Rafah and said that agreeing to Egypt's proposals would constitute a humiliating defeat.
Without eradicating Hamas, Smotrich said in a video statement he released to the press and addressed Netanyahu: “A government led by you will have no right to exist.”
Asked whether Smotrich, who is not a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet, had the details of any Egyptian proposal, his spokesman did not immediately comment.
Western countries, including Israel's closest ally the United States, have called on Israel to refrain from attacking the border town out of concern for potential civilian casualties.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said only the United States can stop Israel from attacking Rafah.
He said he expected an attack on Rafah in the coming days, saying even a “small attack” on Rafah would force the Palestinian population to flee the Gaza Strip.
“The greatest catastrophe in the history of the Palestinian people would then occur.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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