Egypt awaiting Israeli response to latest ceasefire proposal

Muhammad Amin

Egypt is awaiting an Israeli response Thursday regarding Cairo’s proposal for a temporary truce in Gaza, as a “last chance” to rescue the remaining Israeli hostages.
Refusing the offer would mean “entering a dark tunnel, without any hope of rescuing the living Israeli prisoners,” Egyptian sources told Al-Akhbar.
Egyptian officials told their Israeli counterparts Hamas had showed “interaction and flexibility” with the proposal. Egypt is expecting an Israeli security delegation in Cairo soon to agree on the details.
Officials said the visit was postponed due to several outstanding points which cover “the possibility of Israel recovering the largest number of prisoners in exchange for bringing aid into the Strip”. They also cover an Egyptian guarantee regarding the “commitment” of resistance factions to a final agreement, if there are no Israeli violations.
In parallel, discussions involving officials from Turkey, Qatar and the United States touched on details regarding the prisoner exchange process and the priorities on the basis of which the names of those released will be determined, Al-Akbar reports.
“In this context, Egyptian officials believe that ‘it is possible to build on’ several ‘American promises’ they received from officials in the incoming Donald Trump administration.