Conversations in Egypt
Israeli delegation to negotiate ceasefire in Cairo
Egypt’s capital on the Nile: Will the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas be sealed here?
© Gehad Hamdy / DPA
Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas failed at the weekend. Now Israel is making a new attempt. Hamas warns: last attempt.
Israel has sent a delegation to Cairo for further talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the Hamas hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that the negotiating team had arrived in the Egyptian capital. It has instructions to “firmly insist on the necessary conditions” to achieve the release of the hostages.
Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant said Israel was prepared to “compromise” for the release of the hostages. But if “this option is not available, we will intensify the operation,” he added, referring to the military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are about a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages kidnapped into the Palestinian territory. Hamas representatives last held talks with mediators from Egypt and Qatar in the Egyptian capital Cairo at the weekend. Israel was initially not represented in Cairo and the hoped-for breakthrough did not materialize.
Israel advances into Gaza – Rafah evacuated
The Hamas delegation left on Sunday, and on Monday Hamas announced that it had agreed to the plan of the mediating states Egypt and Qatar for a ceasefire. According to the Hamas representative, she wanted to set off again on Tuesday in Qatar’s capital Doha to “conclude” the negotiations in Cairo. A senior Hamas representative, who did not want to be named, warned the AFP news agency that the ceasefire negotiations were Israel’s “last chance” for the release of the Israeli hostages.
The Israeli government is sticking to its plans for a ground offensive in Rafah despite massive international criticism. She called on residents in the east of the city in the south of the Gaza Strip to evacuate on Monday and has now already moved to the east of the city. This triggered international warnings about a major offensive in Rafah that would have serious consequences for the civilian population, including from Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and UN Secretary General António Guterres.
The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, around 1,170 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. The subsequent Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip have now killed more than 34,700 people, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified
This post has been updated.