Thursday, April 25, 2024

Egypt to Israel: Freeze Rafah operation - in exchange for renewing hostage negotiations

Egypt on Wednesday presented to the Israeli delegation in Cairo a demand to completely freeze a military operation in Gaza, in exchange for renewal of the negotiations regarding a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, Al-Hadath reported.

Al-Hadath claimed that "Egypt passed Israel an initiative to freeze its invasion into Rafah in exchange for restarting the negotiations."

Israel's War Cabinet is currently meeting to discuss a possible deal. It is Hamas' last chance: If there is no deal, the Rafah operation will be brutal.

According to the report, Egypt passed Hamas' proposal to the Israeli delegation: a complete ceasefire for a period of one year, in exchange for a cessation of the attacks against Israel.

Egyptian sources told Qatar's Al-Arabi that, "Cairo is speaking with the heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet, about overcoming the disagreements in negogtiations, in excahnge for freezing the operation in Rafah."

"The Israeli representatives will discuss the Egyptian proposals with the War Cabinet, and will issue a response."

The report also said that "Cairo presented a new offer to renew the hostage deal on the basis of the Paris talks. Egypt is holding intensive negotiations in order to prevent Israel from carrying out a military operation in Rafah."