Gaza truce talks still deadlocked despite reports of progress, Hamas says

A Hamas official said today no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo also attended by Israeli, Qatar and US representatives, after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda, Reuters reports.

Western powers have voiced outrage over the unacceptably high Palestinian civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis arising from Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt yesterday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising US pressure for a deal that would free prisoners of war held in Gaza and get aid to isolated civilians.

“There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” the Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

“There is no progress yet.”

Six months into its offensive, Israel has devastated Gaza and left most of its 2.3 million Palestinians homeless and many at risk of famine.

Israel voiced cautious optimism about the latest negotiations. Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the Cairo talks as the closest the sides have come to a deal since a short-lived November truce under which Hamas freed dozens of prisoners of war for women held in Israeli detention.

Two Egyptian security sources and state-run Al-Qahera News said some progress had been made in the Cairo talks.

The security sources said both sides had made concessions that could help pave the way for a deal for a truce which – as proposed during previous talks – would be staggered over three stages, with the release of any remaining Israeli hostages and a long-term ceasefire addressed in the second stage.

The concessions relate to the freeing of prisoners of war and Hamas’ demand for the return of displaced residents to northern Gaza, they said. Mediators suggested the return could be monitored by an Arab force in the presence of Israeli security deployments that would later be pulled back, they added.

Delegations left Cairo and consultations were expected to continue within 48 hours, the sources and Al-Qahera said.

However, a Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters that deadlock continued over Israel’s refusal to end the war, withdraw its forces from Gaza, allow all civilians to return to their homes and lift a 17-year-old blockade to allow speedy reconstruction of the coastal enclave.

These steps took precedence over Israel’s prime demand for a release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Regarding the exchange of prisoners, Hamas was and is willing to be more flexible, but there is no flexibility over our…main demands,” he said.

Israel has ruled out winding up the war shortly or withdrawing from Gaza.

Asked about the talks by reporters today, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman would not go into detail, saying only: “The most important thing is that the right people are in the right place at the right time to discuss a way in which the 133 Israeli hostages can be released.”

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