The first step towards a truce in Gaza: news of Hamas agreeing to a hostage exchange plan

Its negotiators agitation He arrived in Cairo on Saturday for extensive talks on a possible ceasefire in the country gauze A Hamas official told Reuters that the movement aims to return the hostages to Israel Director of the Central Intelligence Agency To be present.

The Egyptian state-run Cairo News Channel also confirmed the arrival of the Hamas delegation to Cairo.

“The results today will be different. An Egyptian security source told Reuters: “We reached an agreement on many points, and only a few points remain.”

A Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts expressed cautious optimism.

According to the same sources, this first stage relates to the exchange of hostages, which is the first step towards an agreement that could pave the way for a final ceasefire agreement.

Arab media reports stated that Hamas would soon announce its approval of the Egyptian mediation proposal, while the Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper said that the announcement would be made in the near future.

What the proposal includes: – The risk of a second invasion of Rafah

The proposal envisages a “ceasefire 40 daysAnd the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of these hostages.

However, Hamas calls for a permanent ceasefire, which the Israeli government rejects, and threatens to order a ground operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge, the vast majority of whom have been displaced by bombing and fighting. .

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated this week: “We will do what is necessary to defeat our enemy, crush him, and not exclude Rafah,” declaring that the operation in the city will take place “with or without a ceasefire agreement.”

For Hisham Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, Netanyahu’s statements regarding the attack on Rafah “clearly aim to nullify any possibility of reaching an agreement.”

On the contrary, US Secretary of State Blinken believes that “the only obstacle” to the ceasefire “is Hamas.”