Cairo would host talks to reach a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV reported Saturday.
The report, citing an Egyptian official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Egypt has extended continuous efforts to broker “a truce agreement” before the holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on March 11 in Egypt.
The official noted that there is noticeable progress in the truce negotiations without giving details. He added that Cairo is seeking to reach “a fair agreement.”
Earlier this week, Al-Qahera reported that two rounds of talks were to be held in Qatar and Egypt respectively to continue what was discussed in the Paris meeting about reaching a truce deal.
The talks would be participated by Egyptian, Qatari, U.S., and Israeli “specialists” and a delegation from the Gaza-ruling Hamas movement, said the report, citing an unnamed Egyptian official.
It comes after an Israeli official told Xinhua that the war cabinet prepared to send a non-senior delegation to Qatar to discuss technical aspects of humanitarian issues in the deal.
The deal that is expected to be reached involves a pause in the four-and-a-half-month war, the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, as well as increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has been waging a war on Gaza after Gaza-ruling Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, the conflict has killed 30,320 Palestinians and injured 71,533 in Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry updated Saturday.
