Delegations from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel will meet in Doha, today, Wednesday, in order to resume ceasefire talks and the hostage deal in Gaza, according to Cairo News Channel, quoting a prominent Egyptian source.
The source explained that “the head of Egyptian intelligence and his American counterpart will attend the Doha meeting,” on a mission to “bring closer the views between Israel and Hamas to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible.”
He said: ‘There is agreement on many points,’ adding that ‘negotiations will return to Cairo on Thursday.’
A correspondent for the American news site Axios spoke of ‘progress in the talks on the hostage deal’ that took place in Cairo on Tuesday.
He explained, “Israel expresses its satisfaction with the round of talks that took place in Cairo, but it is keen not to develop expectations regarding the rate of progress of negotiations on the deal, and the possibility of reaching an agreement in the coming days.”
Another Israeli official said: ‘We are
facing difficult and complex negotiations that will take several weeks.’
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and CIA Director William Burns met in Cairo yesterday, Tuesday.
The presidency added that Al-Sisi ‘confirmed in this regard the Egyptian position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip.’
Egypt and Qatar are leading mediation efforts in the 9-month-long war between Israel and Hamas, hoping to end the fighting and release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Senior American officials visited the region to press for a ceasefire, after Hamas made concessions last week, but the movement said that a new Israeli attack on Gaza threatened the truce talks at a crucial moment, and called on the mediators to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency