CAIRO: A Hamas delegation discussed a ceasefire in Gaza with Egyptian intelligence officials, two officials from the Palestinian Islamist group told AFP on Monday.
The “delegation met with the head of the Egyptian general intelligence, Major General Hassan Rashad, and a number of Egyptian intelligence officials, and discussed ways to stop the war and aggression, bring in aid, and open the Rafah crossing” at Gaza’s border with Egypt, said a senior Hamas official who was part of the Cairo meeting on Sunday evening.
A second Hamas official also present in Cairo told AFP that “Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are making great efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange”.
“Our Palestinian people are waiting for American and international pressure on (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to stop the war and reach an agreement as happened in Lebanon,” the official said.
The meeting came shortly after Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah agreed on a ceasefire in Lebanon with mediation from the United States and France.
US President Joe Biden would launch a renewed drive for a ceasefire, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week, adding Biden told his envoys to engage with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and other actors in the region.
Egyptian authorities did not publicly comment on any meetings with Hamas on Sunday.
The first official said any deal Hamas agrees to should include the conditions the movement has brought forward since the start of the war.
These include a full ceasefire, complete Israeli military withdrawal, unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, “a serious deal to exchange prisoners in one go or in two stages”, and reconstruction of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of delaying talks and not sincerely wanting to reach a deal.
Post-war Gaza meeting
The Hamas senior official also told AFP that “under Egyptian sponsorship” the Hamas delegation met Sunday evening with a delegation from the Fatah movement, Hamas’s long-term rival currently in power in the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.
He said that the meeting focused on “arrangements for the internal Palestinian situation and the management of the Gaza Strip once the war ends”.
The talks aimed to agree on the shape of “an independent administrative committee to manage the strip and supervise aid, crossings and reconstruction, in agreement with all Palestinian factions”.
Jamal Obeid, a member of Fatah’s leadership in Gaza, told AFP that Egypt was making intensive efforts to stop the war.
“The first priority (is) the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of the displaced, the opening of the crossings, relief for our afflicted people, and reconstruction under the management and supervision of the Palestinian National Authority,” he said.
Obeid said meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas were crucial in order “to stop the war and put the Palestinian house in order”, and agree on what shape governance will take in Gaza after the war ends.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,466 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
