CAIRO, March 5. /TASS/. Hamas is waiting for Israel and the United States’ response to its proposals on a potential ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said.
"The ball is now in the US and Israel’s court. It’s their turn to take a step toward a ceasefire agreement," the As-Sharq television channel quoted him as saying.
According to Naim, Hamas representatives will stay in Cairo for at least one day after the consultations on Gaza "to hold additional talks with mediators with an aim of ceasing hostilities in Gaza."
He said earlier that during the Cairo talks Hamas had handed over to the mediators its proposals on a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave. Now, Hamas is waiting to Israel’s response, he added.
The talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been held in Cairo since March 3. The Israeli delegation in not taking part in this round. The Egyptian television channel Al-Ghad reported on Monday, citing a source, that the parties had reached a "serious progress" on the first day of consultations in Cairo and wanted to arrive at an agreement on the ceasefire before the Holy Month of Ramadan, i.e. before March 11.
Later, it was reported that the Cairo talks had broken up without a breakthrough. However, a high-ranking official from the Egyptian delegation, which is acting as a go-between at the consultations, refuted these reports, noting that the talks continue, although with difficulty.
According to the Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya television channel, the Cairo dialogue participants from Egypt, Qatar and the US proposed to declare a week-long ceasefire regime in exchange for the release of several elderly hostages held in the enclave. It was noted that Hamas objects to a short pause in hostilities, insisting on a longer ceasefire.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.
In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip. Palestine’s authorities blamed the United States for the resumption of Israel’s combat operations.