Israeli delegation goes to Cairo for talks on a ceasefire agreement

Israeli delegation heads to Cairo today for new talks with US, Qatari and Egyptian officials on an agreement for a truce in Gaza Strip which will involve the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas, according to Israeli officials.

The head of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, David Barnea, and the head of the Shin Bet, the internal security agency, Ronen Barr, will meet with US CIA chief Richard Burns, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They will be met by the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thaniwho is also his country's head of diplomacy and a negotiator of several Gaza cease-fire agreements in the past.

No Hamas delegation is planned at this stage to go to Cairo to take part in the indirect talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt, an official of the Palestinian organization that controls the Gaza Strip told AFP this morning. .

Hamas said last Thursday it was always “open” to negotiations aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza despite Israel's rejection of its latest proposals.

The Palestinian organization has proposed a possible cease-fire of “about six weeks” that would allow for exchange talks between hostages held by Gaza and women and children of Palestinian origin held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 killed more than 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. About 250 people were taken hostage that day.

In late November a week-long truce allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israel. The Israeli offensive launched in response to the October 7 invasion has killed at least 28,473 people in the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas.