Egypt met with Hamas to prevent displacement plan, sources say

Egyptian officials and a Hamas delegation discussed the continuation of the ceasefire implementation and the prisoner exchange in Cairo, sources have said.

A Hamas delegation, headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, expressed the movement’s willingness to hand over a batch of captives on Saturday as agreed upon with the Israeli side, however it has rejected demands by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release all the Israeli captives on that day.

Hamas demanded several guarantees for the continuation of the truce deal, including the entry of agreed upon humanitarian aid – including mobile homes – and facilitating the exit of the wounded and sick.

According to informed sources, the Egyptian side discussed the future of the Gaza Strip with Hamas and finding solutions to prevent the displacement plan. They discussed finding an alternative plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing Palestinians from it, provided that Hamas hands over power in the Gaza Strip to another party, whether Palestinian or Arab.

The sources hinted at the possibility of a safe exit for Hamas military and political leaders from the Strip.

The sources added that Egypt will present a reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip without displacing the people of Gaza, to convince the American and Israeli sides to abandon the displacement plan.

READ: Egypt’s prominent school, Al-Azhar, calls for rejecting plans to displace Palestinians