Gaza negotiations to be continued with ‘all parties’ on Wednesday – Egypt media

Egyptian media reported, on Tuesday evening, that “the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip will be completed between all parties” in Cairo on Wednesday.

This was reported by Al-Qahera news channel, which quoted an unnamed high-ranking source, the day after Hamas accepted a Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel rejected before sending its delegation for talks in Cairo on Tuesday.

In a televised speech on Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterated Tel Aviv’s rejection of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal that Hamas agreed to on Monday, stressing that Israel will proceed with the ground military operation on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah land Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is the main corridor for humanitarian aid, leading to it being closed from both directions.

Al-Qahera news said that the high-level source explained that “negotiations between all parties will continue in Cairo tomorrow (Wednesday)”.

READ: Israel did not agree to any proposal presented by mediators, says Hamas official

The same source added. “We informed Israel of the danger of the escalation (in Rafah),” adding, “Egypt is ready to deal with all scenarios.”

Al-Qahera news previously quoted a high-level source, which also remained anonymous, who said “There has been an agreement among all parties to return to the negotiating path (regarding the truce agreement in the Gaza Strip).”

The same channel reported, earlier on Tuesday evening, that “the Gaza truce talks are being held in the presence of delegations from Doha, Washington and Hamas, in addition to the Egyptian security delegation.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli negotiating delegation arrived in Cairo, amid demonstrations in front of the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv demanding that it be granted greater powers in order to reach a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

Under the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US, the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel have been conducting failed indirect negotiations for months, to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners and stop the war on Gaza that broke out on 7 October, 2023.

The Israeli war on Gaza, which has entered its eighth month, left about 113,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, which required Tel Aviv to stand before the International Court of Justice on genocide charges.

READ: Hamas official warns of no ceasefire deal if Israel aggression on Gaza continues