According to an Israeli media report, Israel withheld its delegation to Cairo because Hamas rejected one of its demands.
Hamas officials have arrived in Cairo, Egypt, for talks on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war after a US official suggested that Israel had approved a framework for a temporary ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas representatives arrived in Cairo on Sunday, but by early evening there was no delegation from Israel for the talks brokered by envoys from Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Israeli media reported that Israel did not send a team after the Palestinian group refused to share a list of prisoners still alive in the besieged area.
“There is no Israeli delegation in Cairo,” Israeli media Ynet quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying. “Hamas refuses to give clear answers and therefore there is no reason to send the Israeli delegation.”
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that his delegation was in Cairo “to meet with the Egyptian and Qatari brothers and present the movement's vision. “Whether the occupation delegation arrives in Cairo or not is none of our business.” , he said.
A source briefed on the talks told Portal a day earlier that Israel could stay away from Cairo if Hamas did not provide the list of prisoners first.
A Palestinian source told the agency that Hamas has so far rejected this request.
A US official said earlier that Israel had agreed to the framework for a ceasefire agreement under discussion in Cairo.
“There is a framework agreement. “The Israelis have more or less accepted it,” a senior U.S. official in President Joe Biden’s administration said Saturday.
The framework proposal includes a six-week ceasefire and the release by Hamas of prisoners deemed vulnerable, including the sick, wounded, the elderly and women, the U.S. official said.
Israel and Hamas have made several demands as pressure grows from the United States to strike a deal for a ceasefire to take effect before the start of Ramadan, expected to begin on March 10 or 11.
The framework spearheaded by the U.S. official could bring about the first extended ceasefire of the war, which has raged since October 7 with just a week-long break in November. But it would not meet Hamas's main demand for a permanent end to the war.
Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, said Hamas continued to demand that Israel agree to a “full military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and also a full return of people to the north.”
A possible ceasefire agreement would also provide for the release of Hamas prisoners in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners. A deal could also lead to an increase in aid deliveries, although aid groups have warned that many Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine.
According to Israeli officials, the war began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking 253 hostages. According to Palestinian officials, Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and ground invasion in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 30,400 people. The Israeli attack has leveled large parts of the besieged area and displaced more than 80 percent of the population.