Israel says Egypt-hosted talks yield progress on ceasefire and prisoner swap

JERUSALEM:

Israeli officials on Tuesday reported progress in talks hosted in Egypt aimed at achieving a Gaza truce and a prisoner swap with Hamas.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, citing officials, reported that progress was made on important issues during a visit by Shin Bet security chief Ronen Bar to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

However, he did not elaborate on these important matters.

Barr returned to Israel early Tuesday from Egypt.

An Israeli official, however, urged caution, predicting “complicated negotiations” with Hamas.

Barr and Mossad chief David Barnea are due to fly to Qatar on Wednesday to take part in a quadrilateral meeting with Egypt and the US to explore ways to advance ceasefire talks in Gaza.

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For months, efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to exchange hostages and cease fire have been stymied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of Hamas’ call for an end to hostilities.

In defiance of a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued violent assault on Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 88,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast swaths of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from war before its May 6 invasion.