Representatives of the terrorist group Hamas are in Cairo, Egypt, this Saturday (4), to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where the organization faces a war with Israel. The conflict in the region has been going on since October 2023 and, after several discussions to reach an end to the dispute, there has still been no consensus on the end of the war.
According to information revealed by the EFE news agency, “there is great progress in negotiations” between terrorists and the Israeli government. The pressure to end the conflict has fallen on both sides. While international communities draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the Israeli government threatens an offensive in the city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken shelter since the start of the war.
In a statement released this Friday (3), the terrorist group stated that they were heading to Egypt with a “positive spirit”. In the statement, the organization also outlined some of its demands to accept a ceasefire. Among the demands: “completely stop the aggression, the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the return of the displaced and the assistance of our people, the beginning of reconstruction and the conclusion of a serious exchange agreement”.
As the newspaper reported The Wall Street Journal, Israeli mediators proposed a truce in the war to Hamas. Citing Egyptian authorities, the newspaper states that the Israeli side suggested a first temporary truce of 40 days in exchange for 33 hostages, with the possibility of extending the ceasefire. Hamas would have a week to respond to the proposal.
One of the controversial points demanded by Hamas is the total end of the Israeli offensive. More radical partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have already opposed this possibility. Netanyahu himself has also insisted that the war will continue until all his objectives are achieved: ending Hamas in the Gaza Strip and recovering the hostages still in the group’s hands.
Hamas anticipated that it could give a response on the ceasefire at the beginning of next week or even tomorrow (Sunday, 5). Israel is still putting pressure on terrorists to adopt the agreement and claim that, if Hamas does not meet the seven-day deadline, Jerusalem would begin the offensive in Rafah.