Agencies
Cairo/Tel Aviv
A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas plans to travel to Cairo on Sunday for negotiations over a possible ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of further hostages being held there.
Broadcaster Al Jazeera, citing Hamas sources, reported that mediators have recently been in close touch with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh to urge a continuation of negotiations.
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya will lead the delegation to Cairo, the group announced on Saturday. The statement said that Hamas would not deviate from its demands, including a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Gaza, and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
The Israeli government, which has vowed to destroy Hamas in its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, has so far rejected those demands.
Talks have been stalled for weeks. Mediators have hoped for another deal for a ceasefire as well as the exchange of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Basem Naim, a Hamas official, has spoken to Al Jazeera about the ceasefire talks that are expected to resume on Sunday in Cairo and insisted that the group will not back down on its core demands.
“What we are calling for should not be part of any negotiations because when we are negotiating for a ceasefire, it means that we are heading towards a ceasefire. When we are negotiating a ceasefire, it means the Israeli troops which invaded Gaza after October 7 have to leave the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas official said.
“When we talk about a ceasefire agreement, it has to mean that the people after the ceasefire agreement have to move freely inside the Gaza Strip. We cannot accept after a ceasefire agreement that the Israelis have the right to launch the aggression again at any time, to have their troops inside Gaza and to reoccupy the Gaza Strip again or to prevent 1.3 million Palestinians from returning to their houses,” he said.
“We are not talking about conditions, these are the expected outcome[s] of any ceasefire agreement,” Naim added.
He also said that after these demands have been accepted, a “serious” prisoner deal can take place.
“We have already presented a proposal which is clearly talking about reaching a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal. The Americans themselves on that day have said that this is very reasonable, very constructive and it could be a good start. It’s the same thing we’ve heard from the Egyptians and the Qataris,” he said.
“The ball is not in our court here. It is on the other side who is insisting on the continuous occupation of [the] Gaza Strip.” A push to strike a deal before the start of the Muslim month of fasting and prayer, Ramadan, was unsuccessful.
More than 32,500 Palestinians are said to have been killed in Israeli attacks so far and many more thousands injured.
On Saturday, the Israeli military announced that the body of a hostage had been recovered in an overnight operation in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the man had been abducted from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel, where scores of people were killed and taken hostage in the massacre by Palestinian fighters on October 7.
Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip, launched the surprise attack on Israel six months ago. It was aided by fighters from other organisations, including Islamic Jihad.
