CAIRO, May 3. /TASS/. Delegations from Egypt, Israel, Qatar, the United States, and the Hamas Palestinian radical movement will hold a series of meetings in Cairo on May 4 in an effort to reach a deal on the swap of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the Al Hadath television channel reported.
According to the television channel, Hamas has accepted two stages of the settlement plan and the upcoming meeting will mainly focus on the third stage outlining the conditions for the cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian enclave.
The Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya television channel reported earlier in the day that a Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday to hold consultations on settling the situation in the Gaza Strip. According to the Al Hadath television channel, CIA director Willian Burns would take part in the negotiating process in the Egyptian capital.
On Thursday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said during a phone call with Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Abbas Kamel that a Hamas delegation will soon return to Cairo to continue consultations on ways to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya reported on April 29, citing its sources, that the Hamas delegation had left Cairo after another round of talks, which lasted for one day, and planned to return soon with a written response to the latest ceasefire proposal advanced by Egypt.
On April 27, Egypt handed over to Hamas a proposal, agreed upon with the Israeli side, that provided for the release of from 20 to 40 hostages held by radicals in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a ceasefire in the enclave. According to an Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya source, the deal with Israel is likely to be reached "within several days, even despite some reservations."
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.
In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.