A Hamas delegation will travel to Cairo tomorrow for ceasefire talks in Gaza. A Hamas official told the AFP agency, adding that the delegation will give an answer on the ceasefire proposal offered by the mediators and Israel. «A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya (chief negotiator of the Islamist group and “number 2” of the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar) will arrive in Egypt and will give the movement’s response» to the Israeli proposal during a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials, the official said. The same news was also reported by the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq, according to which the new proposal contains “progress on the issue of the return of displaced persons and on the number and categories of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for kidnapped ones”.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said only the United States can stop Israel from attacking Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. He stated this at the World Economic Forum underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, adding that he expected the assault in the coming days.
According to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in an interview with TASS, Israel is preparing a military operation on a large scale in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. «My fear right now is what the Israeli army is planning to do, whether there is military assistance – to Israel from the United States – or not. There appears to be preparation for a possible large-scale military intervention in Rafah.” «We are all extremely concerned about the likelihood of an offensive in Rafah. There are more than 1.45 million displaced people already concentrated in the south”, underlined Lazzarini.
According to Al Jazeera, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, chaired a meeting in Riyadh with representatives of six Arab countries to discuss the situation in Gaza. Participating were Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi, Egypt’s top diplomat Sameh Shoukry, Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al-Sheikh, UAE diplomatic advisor Anwar Gargash, and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi. The meeting would discuss the need to end Israel’s war on Gaza and the importance of recognizing the state of Palestine along the 1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital. The attempt to displace Palestinians from their lands and any military operation in Rafah where there are around 1.2 million people displaced by the 7 months of war were rejected.
If Israel were to reach an agreement with Hamas for the release of the hostages, it would suspend the announced ground operation in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Foreign Minister of the Jewish State, Israel Katz, said this to News 12 on Saturday. “If there is an agreement on the hostages we will suspend the operation in Rafah,” Katz said.
