A senior delegation from Hamas arrived in Cairo on Saturday to discuss proposals for a Gaza ceasefire following talks this week in Tel Aviv between Egyptian and Israeli negotiators, sources briefed on the matter told The National.
They said the Hamas delegation was led by Khalil Al Hayah, Zaher Jabareen and Moussa Marzouq. The three will meet senior negotiators from Egypt's spy agency on Saturday and Sunday.
The sources updated details of the latest Egyptian proposals they shared with The National on Thursday, when Egyptian negotiators travelled to Israel to discuss them with officials from the spy agency Mossad.
They said the latest proposals include a 20 to 30-day truce, during which Hamas would be expected to determine the identity and location of the estimated 100 hostages it is holding and determine how many are alive. The Israeli military contends that at least 40 of them have died while in captivity.
In return, Israel will share the names of the Palestinians jailed in Israel on security-related offences who it will release in exchange for the hostages when a deal is reached, the sources said.
The question of the location of the hostages, their state of health and the remains of those who have died has come to the fore in recent months in view of Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza and ground operations against Hamas targets across the territory.
The perceived collapse of regular communication between senior Hamas commanders and individuals guarding the hostages has further compounded the issue, according to the sources.
During the initial truce, said the sources, medicine and medical care would be provided to the hostages and humanitarian assistance dispatched to the territory, where hunger is widespread. Also provided for in the proposals is the return during the initial truce of Palestinians displaced by the 13-month-old war.
Hamas previously rejected Israeli demands for a list of names of the hostages and the number and identity of those who died in captivity. Hamas's rejection is believed to be rooted in the militant group's conviction that the prisoners are by far the most impactful bargaining card it holds when it negotiates a ceasefire or a prisoner and hostage swap with Israel.
Hamas has, moreover, repeatedly announced that it holds Israel responsible for the safety of the hostages, arguing that its relentless military operations in Gaza is what put their lives at risk.
The sources said Egyptian negotiators would also try to persuade Hamas to accept an initial partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and allow for subsequent negotiations on a full withdrawal to proceed.
Hamas has long demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the unconditional return of the displaced and a permanent ceasefire. Israel, on the other hand, has declared the eradication of Hamas as the war's primary goal and insists that it retains a supreme security role on the territory and the right to screen the displaced before allowing them to return to their homes.
It is uncertain whether Hamas and Israel will accept the latest Egyptian plan, according to the sources, but Cairo feels the need to build on momentum created by the Lebanon ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday and not wait for a Donald Trump administration to take the reins in Washington in January.
“Moreover, Egypt feels that delaying a ceasefire in Gaza can only worsen an already desperate humanitarian situation there,” one of the sources said earlier this week. Cairo is also concerned, he added, that the humanitarian crisis in the enclave could reach the point where Palestinians felt they had no choice but to cross the border into Egypt in large numbers.
Egypt has repeatedly warned against the mass migration of Palestinians to its Sinai Peninsula, arguing this would “liquidate” the Palestinian cause and threaten Egyptian national security.
Besides hunger and malnutrition-related ailments in Gaza, the war in the tiny coastal strip has left more than 44,000 Palestinians dead and more than twice that number injured. Built-up areas of Gaza have been razed and much of its infrastructure devastated.
Egypt, Qatar and the US have for close to a year been trying without success to broker a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
The war began when fighters from Hamas and allied Gaza groups attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 hostage. The attack drew a relentless Israeli response and spilt over into Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel exchanged cross-border fire for nearly a year before Israel invaded southern Lebanon and dramatically stepped up air strikes across much of the country.
On a different but related track, Egypt is proposing to Israel that a Palestinian agency approved by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority takes over running the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, alongside a UN force that ensures security and smooth passage of relief aid into Gaza, said the sources. Hamas would not be represented in the agency, they added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his opposition to any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
Last May, Israel captured the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing – Gaza's only window on the outside world that is not controlled by Israel – and the strip of land that runs the entire length of the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Egypt was angered and in response closed its side of the crossing, arguing the Israeli move violated provisions of a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries and subsequent accords.
