Hamas' political leader arrives in Cairo to discuss the situation in Gaza
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya landed in Cairo this Tuesday to hold talks with the Egyptian authorities about the situation in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamist group reported in a statement. Although details of the content of these talks are not disclosed, Egypt is one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas, along with Qatar and the United States, to reach a ceasefire in Gaza as well as a possible exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Hamas office, Haniya arrived in Gaza at the head of a delegation of the organization's leaders to “start discussions with Egyptian officials on efforts being made to end hostilities and provide assistance to citizens.” confirmed by Cairo. He will also speak about “the political situation and on the ground amid the hostile war against Gaza.” [sobre] “We will achieve the goals of our Palestinian people,” the note said.
Last week, CIA Director William Burns and representatives of the Mossad (Israel's spy agency), Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the Egyptian and Qatari authorities met in great secrecy in Cairo. mediator in the conflict.
Although the talks have been described as fruitful, one of the biggest stumbling blocks remains the number of prisoners that Hamas is demanding from Israel to release from its prisons, initially more than a thousand, in exchange for the 134 hostages, of which about thirty died. The Palestinian prime minister last week called Hamas' demands “nonsense.”
For his part, Qatari Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abderrahman Al Thani assured on Saturday in Munich that negotiations on a ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas “are not progressing as expected” and that the last few days “have not been very promising.”
The same day, Haniya insisted that he would not accept an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners unless the Israeli army stopped its offensive and withdrew from Gaza, blaming Israel for the stalled talks. (agencies)