Some of the key sticking points throughout the negotiations included Israel’s refusal to end the war and fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has proposed a two-day truce as another attempt to reach a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations between Hamas and Israel, as representatives from the latter and the United States hold talks in Qatar.
El-Sisi announced the latest proposal on Sunday in a joint press conference with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Cairo.
The Egyptian president—whose country has been working alongside Qatar in mediating between Israel and Hamas—said the truce entailed releasing four Israeli captives in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.
Talks would then resume within 10 days of implementing the deal in an effort to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, he explained to the press.
The Egyptian leader’s remarks came as Doha hosted a new round of talks on Sunday that saw the attendance of negotiators from the U.S. and Israel in the hopes of ending the more than one-year long war on the Gaza Strip.
TIt remains unclear whether Hamas is involved in the latest round of negotiations, although sources from the movement had told Asharq that there are plans to present a comprehensive deal.
The reported proposal would involve the complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip alongside an exchange that includes all Israeli captives.
“Of course, we will not reject other ideas that the mediators may present, but the criterion of acceptance for us begins with stopping the war,” the unnamed Hamas official said.
“Without stopping this war, there will be no agreement,” he added.
The talks have been stalled since the expiration of last year’s week-long truce in December, which resulted in the release of 109 captives held by Hamas out of some 240 taken during the surprise October 7 attack—widely known as Al-Aqsa Flood.
Around 97 captives are still in Gaza, including 34 who are believed to be dead, according to AFP.
Israel has escalated its offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 43,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, within just over a year. The actual death toll is believed to be an undercount as thousands remain missing or buried under the rubble.
Israel has also expanded its brutal aggression to neighbouring Lebanon since September, where it has relentlessly bombarded different areas including the south and the capital, Beirut.
In Lebanon, Israel has killed at least 2,672 people while injuring more than 12,468 others since October 8, 2023, according to the latest figures by Lebanese authorities.
Last May, U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a truce which Hamas received positively. Despite U.S. officials saying Israel had also agreed to the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government ministers did not accept the terms.
Some of the key sticking points throughout the negotiations included Israel’s refusal to end the war and fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip, the Philadelphi Corridor, and the Rafah Crossing.
