Israeli delegation arrives in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks

Cairo, Aug 3 (IANS) An Israeli security delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza ceasefire talks, well-informed Egyptian sources told Xinhua.

The sources said that the Israeli delegation, which includes the heads of the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, has already arrived in Cairo and begun talks with the Egyptian side.

According to the sources, the talks focus on a Gaza ceasefire, the situation in the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza, and the closed Rafah border crossing.

This is the first Israeli delegation to visit Egypt since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, on Wednesday in the Iranian capital Tehran. Hamas has accused Israel of carrying out the assassination.

Since the Gaza conflict broke out in October 2023, Egypt, along with mediators from the United States and Qatar, has been working to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the governing body in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest round of ceasefire negotiation among senior officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States adjourned last weekend, several hours after it began in Rome, with no apparent progress reported.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.

The Israeli attacks have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians and injured more than 90,000 others.

Israel estimates that there are about 134 Israeli detainees in Gaza, while Hamas announced that 70 of them were killed in random Israeli raids.

–IANS

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