An Israeli delegation is traveling to Cairo on Tuesday for new talks with American, Qatari and Egyptian officials over a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, including the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, according to Israeli officials.
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The head of the Mossad (Israeli foreign intelligence service), David Barnea, and the head of the Shin Bet (internal secret service), Ronen Bar, will meet there in particular with the director of the CIA, the American central intelligence service, Richard Burns. the officials added on condition of anonymity.
They are joined by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, who was also his country's diplomatic chief and negotiator of several ceasefire agreements in Gaza in the past.
Currently, no Hamas delegation has planned to travel to Cairo to take part in these indirect talks sponsored by Qatar and Egypt, a representative of the Palestinian movement told AFP on Tuesday morning.
Hamas said last Thursday it was still “open” to negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza, despite Israel rejecting its recent proposals.
The Palestinian movement has mentioned a possible ceasefire of “around six weeks” that would allow discussion of an exchange between hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas' attacks in Israel on October 7 killed more than 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on official Israeli data. Around 250 people were also kidnapped that day.
In late November, a week-long ceasefire enabled the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. According to Israel, there are still 130 hostages in Gaza, 29 of whom are believed to be dead.
According to Hamas, 28,473 people died in the Israeli offensive in retaliation for the October 7 attacks in the Gaza Strip, the vast majority of them civilians.