Hamas leader in Cairo. Intense negotiations underway for ceasefire

O Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has already arrived in Cairo, where he will hold talks with Egyptian authorities about the latest developments in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, with the possibility of reaching an agreement with Israel for a ceasefire on the table.

The information that Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, was already in Egypt, was confirmed by Hamas through the social network Telegram.

On Tuesday, a source from the Palestinian group told the AFP news agency that Haniya was scheduled to meet with the head of Egyptian intelligence services, Abbas Kamel, with the aim of discussing “the end of aggression and war, the preparation of a prisoner release agreement and the end of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip”.

A source from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group told AFP today that the leader of this armed movement, the second largest in the Gaza Strip, Ziyad al-Nakhala, would also travel to Cairo early next week.

Before arriving in Cairo, Ismail Haniya met in Doha, the capital of Qatar, with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, according to images released by Tehran.

It is known that Israel proposed a week of truce to Hamas, in exchange for the release of around 40 hostages. The information was provided by CNN, which cites Israeli officials and a source familiar with the matter.

Another source told Reuters that the ongoing discussions, considered “intensive”, focus on deciding which hostages and prisoners will be released if a ceasefire agreement is reached. However, the same source notes, the number of people who will be released has not yet been decided.

The previous agreement included the exchange of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas for around 240 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

The truce of November 24, mediated by countries such as Qatar, Egypt and the United States, allowed the release of 105 hostages for a week, 24 of them foreigners, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office believes that 129 hostages from the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7 are being held in Gaza, of which 108 are alive and 21 are dead.

[Notícia atualizada às 10h38]

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