With the Middle East continuing to heat up, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi tries to restart negotiations between Israel and Hamas to achieve the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to the pro-Qatar Arab newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeedwhich cites an Egyptian source close to Cairo, contacts are reportedly underway with “all the active parties” in the negotiation which, for weeks now, has been at a standstill due to crossed vetoes.
Middle East, Egypt tries to restart negotiations between Israel and Hamas to free the hostages and reach a ceasefire
That this could be the right time to reach an agreement is suggested by Israel’s war cabinet which unanimously approved the “new guidelines” for its negotiators in an attempt to relaunch the talks. The Israeli news website reported this Wallaaccording to which the Prime Minister’s Office Benjamin Netanyahu he ordered his delegation “to continue negotiations for the return of the Israeli hostages” still in the hands of Hamas terrorists.
According to what has transpired, the new mandate for the Jewish State’s negotiators would provide for “a greater degree of maneuver” compared to the previous ones which, for the first time, could deal directly with the mediators of Qatar and Egypt. As always, however, in the event of an agreement, the text should be evaluated and authorized by the Tel Aviv government which has the final say.
According to what the Egyptian source reports a al-Araby al-Jadeed, an Israeli working delegation has been visiting Cairo weekly to discuss security coordination and try to overcome the impasse over Israeli control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has led to increasingly heated mutual recriminations. The source said that discussions have recently also focused on the role of Egyptian mediation.
