The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, said on Sunday that Cairo has proposed a short truce in Gaza, involving a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in addition to a limited exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Neither Hamas nor Israel gave an immediate response to the proposal, with a new round of talks expected in Qatar, another key mediator, in an attempt to de-escalate the situation and ease regional tensions, reported the Associated Press (AP).
Ceasefire Proposal Details
Speaking in Cairo, Al-Sisi said that the proposal includes a two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as the release of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange of the release of some Palestinian prisoners.
Furthermore, the proposal involves the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. The Egyptian President said that this proposal aims to “move the situation forward.” He added that after implementing the temporary ceasefire, talks should resume to make it permanent.
The only ceasefire in the Gaza war was in November 2023, when a week-long pause in the fighting took effect, resulting in the exchange of women and children hostages in Gaza for Palestinian women and children prisoners held on security grounds, and allowing in more aid.
Ceasefire Talks
Attempts to reach a longer ceasefire have repeatedly failed, as Hamas wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces out of Gaza as a precondition while Israel insists its forces will remain until they eradicate Hamas.
While there was no immediate comment on Al-Sisi’s proposal, Reuters quoted a Palestinian official close to the negotiations as saying: “I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza.”
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been leading negotiations that aim to end the fighting and alleviate the humanitarian suffering of the Gaza people. In the light of this, the CIA director, William Burns, and Mossad Chief, David Barnea, headed to Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, to take part in a new series of meetings with the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, aiming to restart ceasefire negotiations.
An official briefed on the talks told Reuters that the Doha negotiations aim to reach a short-term ceasefire and release some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Talks also aim to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt the fighting for less than a month, hoping this will lead to a permanent ceasefire.
Talks have stalled following the killing of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a bombing in Iran. However, the international community see the killing of his successor, Yahya Sinwar, as an opportunity to restart negotiations. Sinwar was the architect of the October 7 attack on Israel in 2023 and had the final say on Hamas’ position.
Regional Escalation
Egypt’s proposal came a day after Israel’s strikes on Iran, which targeted military bases in Tehran, in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. The escalation between the two archenemies, in addition to Israel’s war with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, has raised fears of a prolonged confrontation that could drag other players and spread into an all-out regional war.
In his first comments after the Israeli strikes, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, said that Israeli strikes “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed.” He added that “it is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime.”
On the other hand, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, made his first public comments on the strikes. He said: “We severely harmed Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed toward us.”
The UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold an emergency meeting on Monday at Iran’s request. Russia, China and Algeria, the Arab representative at the Council, supported the request, according to Switzerland, which holds the UNSC’s rotating presidency.
‘Unbearable’ Situation
In Gaza, an Israeli strike on Beit Lahia on Saturday evening killed 40 people, reported the Guardian citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa. On Sunday morning, another strike on Jabaliya killed 20 people, and more 11 people in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Shati refugee camp in the north, with many injured, most of them women and children.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, called the plight of civilians trapped in north Gaza “unbearable.” In a statement on Sunday, his office said: “The secretary general is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving healthcare and families lacking food and shelter.”
Separately, a truck rammed into a bus stop in Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring over 30 people. The ramming took place outside a military base and near the headquarters of the Mossad agency. According to the Israeli police, the attacker was an Arab citizen of Israel and a passerby carrying firearms “neutralized” him.
