CAIRO, March 5. /TASS/. The Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo with the participation of Egypt, Qatar, the US and Hamas have been extended for at least one more day, the Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya television channel reported, citing an Egyptian official.
According to the official, another round of consultations will be held on Wednesday. However, the television channel gave no details of the talks.
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.
On Tuesday, the Al Hadath television channel cited a high-ranking official from the Egyptian delegation as saying that the talks continue, although with difficulty. He refuted Reuters’ reports alleging that the talks were broken up without a breakthrough.
Al-Qahera al-Ekhbariya said on March 4 that 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.