Gaza Ceasefire Talks See ‘Significant Breakthrough’ as Israel Faces Genocide Accusations
Talks held in Cairo to reach a ceasefire in Gaza were witnessing a “significant breakthrough,” Reuters reported citing two Egyptian security sources.
Meanwhile, Israel faces accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, as the International Court of Justice has begun a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Gaza.
Ceasefire ‘Breakthrough’
According to the Egyptian security sources, the talks saw a consensus on a long-term ceasefire in Gaza. However, there are still some sticking points, including Hamas arms, the two Egyptian sources said.
Israel demands the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, but the Palestinian movement has repeatedly said that it would not give up its arms.
On the contrary, Axios reporter, Barak Ravid, posted on X that an Israeli official denied the reported breakthrough without providing further details.
Egypt’s Al-Qahera News reported that Egyptian intelligence chief, General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, would meet an Israeli delegation led by strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, on Monday in Cairo. The meeting aimed to discuss efforts to restore calm in Gaza and reach a ceasefire in the Strip.
Negotiation Progress
A Hamas delegation held discussions with Egyptian officials over the past few days to present its vision for reaching a comprehensive deal that would include a ceasefire, hostage and prisoner exchange, humanitarian relief, and Gaza’s reconstruction, the Palestinian group said in a statement on Sunday.
On Sunday, Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, noted that ceasefire talks held in Doha last week made some progress. However, he added that they hadn’t agreed yet on how to end the war.
The Qatari Prime Minister said that Hamas is willing to return the remaining hostages in exchange of Israel ending its war on Gaza, but Israel wants the hostages without providing a clear vision on ending the war.
Ceasefire Dilemma
On Saturday, a Hamas official said that the Palestinian movement was eyeing a five-year truce with Israel that would involve releasing all the remaining hostages in a single batch, he told AFP. This statement came as the BBC reported that Egyptian and Qatari mediators had proposed a new formula including a 5-to-7-year truce, the release of all Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a formal end to the war, and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
During a conference in Jerusalem on Monday night, the Israeli Minister, Ron Dermer, said that his government remained committed to dismantling Hamas’ military capability, ending the war in Gaza, and returning the hostages.
Since the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel collapsed in March, mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US have made several proposals to end the war, but negotiations stalled.
Hamas insists that a ceasefire agreement must guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate entry of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, Israel demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza – a demand that Hamas rejects.
‘Live-streamed’ Genocide
Israel has resumed its war in Gaza on March 18, 2025, after a two-month ceasefire collapsed. It has also imposed a total blockade on the entry of goods and supplies to the Strip since March 2 to increase pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages. The Gaza war, which erupted following Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has so far claimed the lives of over 52,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
On Tuesday, Amnesty International accused Israel of committing a “live-streamed genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. in its annual report, Amnesty said that Israel had acted with “specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide.”
Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard, said: “Since 7 October 2023, when Hamas perpetrated horrific crimes against Israeli citizens and others and captured more than 250 hostages, the world has been made audience to a live-streamed genocide.”
Callamard added that “states watched on as if powerless, as Israel killed thousands upon thousands of Palestinians, wiping out entire multigenerational families, destroying homes, livelihoods, hospitals and schools.”
ICJ Hearings
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday started five days of hearings into Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians, after more than 50 days of complete blockade on aid entry to Gaza.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s representative, Mohammed Saud Alnasser, delivered the Kingdom’s speech before the UN court, strongly denounced Israel’s “flagrant violations of international law” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza.
Alnasser said that Israel considered itself above the law by choosing to ignore the ICJ advisory opinion which urged it to halt its offensive on Gaza. He added that “Israel’s hideous conduct, which piles illegality upon illegality, is well documented – its most ruthless application has been the siege conditions imposed over the Gaza Strip since October 2023,” noting that “nothing justifies such barbarity.”
The Saudi representative told the court that “Israel’s blockade of humanitarian assistance and simultaneous brutalization” of the civilian population through bombardment are “a means of bringing about the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip.”
Moreover, South Africa’s representative, Zane Dangor, told the ICJ that Palestinians are being subjected to “atrocity, crimes, persecution, apartheid, and genocide” in Gaza, “under the world’s watchful eye.”
During Monday hearings, the Palestinian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Ammar Hijazi, accused Israel of using food as a weapon of war.
“Starvation is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war,” he said. “Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” he told the UN court.
