Watan-Israel as a whole stands on one and a half feet, awaiting Hamas’s response to the proposals regarding the exchange deal, tomorrow, Monday.
According to Cairo News Channel: “A delegation from Hamas, led by Khalil al-Hayya, will arrive in Cairo on Monday to deliver the movement’s response regarding the ceasefire proposal in Gaza.”
In a related context, a Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations (preferring anonymity) confirmed to Anadolu Agency that a Hamas delegation, led by al-Hayya, will arrive in Cairo tomorrow, Monday, to deliver the movement’s response regarding the ceasefire proposal in Gaza, without further details.
Hamas received Israel’s response
On Saturday, Hamas announced, in a statement it received Israel’s official response to the movement’s position regarding the prisoner exchange deal and ceasefire, which it handed over to mediators Egypt and Qatar on April 13, stating that once it finishes studying it, it will deliver its response (to the mediators).
Hamas’s receipt of the Israeli response came a day after an Egyptian security delegation visited Tel Aviv, carrying “a proposal for its country that includes releasing all Israeli prisoners in Gaza, releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and halting the fire for a year,” as reported by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to the Hebrew site Walla, an Egyptian intelligence delegation visited Israel on Friday, holding meetings with the Israeli negotiating delegation before leaving a few hours later back to Cairo.
For months, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been leading indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas aimed at reaching an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of prisoners and detainees between the two sides.
The negotiations have not resulted in a final agreement due to Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand to end the war, withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip, and allow Palestinian refugees to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
Tel Aviv estimates there are about 134 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced the death of 70 of them in indiscriminate airstrikes carried out by Israel, which holds in its prisons at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners, whose conditions have deteriorated since its war on Gaza began, according to Palestinian organizations concerned with prisoners.