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fullscreenEgyptian media reports say talks on a Gaza ceasefire are making progress. Archive image. Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP/TT
Talks on a cease-fire in Gaza have made “significant progress”, reports the state-linked Egyptian television channel al-Qahera.
At talks in Cairo, where Egypt, the United States and Qatar are trying to broker an agreement on at least a temporary pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, negotiations have taken decisive steps forward on a number of difficult points, according to a senior Egyptian source.
Representatives of Qatar and Hamas have left the Egyptian capital but are expected back within two days to put the finishing touches on an agreement, it is stated. The representatives of the US and Israel are about to leave Cairo, but contacts will continue over the next 24 hours.
Neither Hamas nor Israel have confirmed that a settlement would be possible and imminent, nor has the US or Qatar.
Hamas has repeated this weekend that their demands include a permanent ceasefire, that Israel withdraws from Gaza and that Palestinians who have to leave their homes in Gaza should be able to return, as well as the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for the hostages that Hamas is holding.