The latest round of talks in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, ended on Friday. What is on the table now is an Israeli proposal on the conditions for laying down the weapons.
Today, a delegation, led by negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, from terrorist-branded Hamas arrives to deliver a Palestinian response. The tone is optimistic.
The atmosphere is positive, if there are no new Israeli obstacles, a Hamas source told the AFP news agency.
“Last chance”
The extremist Islamist movement has no major objections to the content of Israel’s proposal, according to the source.
The answer is to be given to Egyptian and Qatari mediators. The Israeli negotiators are not in Cairo at the moment, but are expected, according to the AP news agency, “within a few days”.
At the same time, Israel warns that it is now urgent.
This is the last chance before we enter Rafah, an anonymous official told the Keshet 12 TV channel.
According to Israeli media sources, the country’s negotiators think the talks are going well, but also suspect that Hamas is “dragging its feet” to buy time for, among others, Yahya Sinwar – the movement’s hard-line leader on the ground in the Gaza Strip, who is now believed to be hiding in the military tunnel system under Rafah.
Great concern
According to Israel, Hamas is using hundreds of thousands of fleeing civilians in the city of Rafah as human shields. The outside world, led by the United States, has expressed great concern about the humanitarian consequences if Israel goes on a large-scale offensive in Rafah. And John Kirby, spokesman for the US Security Council, says Israel is listening.
They have assured us that they are not going into Rafah until we have had the chance to really convey our perspective and our concerns to them, he says on the ABC program This Week.