Egypt will host a Hamas delegation on Monday which will submit its response to the recent Israeli counter-proposal for a truce in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, a senior member of the movement announced on Sunday Palestinian to AFP.
The delegation, “led by Khalil al-Hayya”, a member of Hamas’s political branch for Gaza, “will meet with the director and officials of the Egyptian intelligence service to discuss and submit the movement’s response” to the Palestinians, said this senior official. under cover of anonymity.
Hamas indicated that it had received on Saturday the counter-proposal made by Israel as part of mediation from Qatar and Egypt. The delegation must also discuss a “new Egyptian proposal”, added the senior official of the Palestinian movement.
Permanent ceasefire and exchange of prisoners
“Hamas is ready to discuss in a positive manner the new Egyptian proposal” and wishes to reach an agreement guaranteeing a permanent ceasefire, the voluntary return” of the displaced, “an acceptable arrangement for an exchange” of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages and “the end of the siege” of the Gaza Strip, another Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States are trying in vain to convince Israel and Hamas to stop fighting since the end of a week-long truce on December 1, which allowed the release of 80 Israeli hostages against 240 Palestinian prisoners of Israeli prisons.