A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas is in the Egyptian capital to negotiate a ceasefire and the release of prisoners. Sources say some progress has been made.
But sticking points remain, including Israel’s insistence on a ground invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
According to the United Kingdom, the Hamas team arrived in Cairo on Saturday to meet with mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States over a proposal that would halt Israel’s war on Gaza for 40 days and swap prisoners for Palestinian prisoners would.
Sources told Al Jazeera that negotiations were at a critical point as a technical team from Qatar was working out the details of a possible deal with the Egyptians.
“Usually technical teams are signs that we are moving towards the operational aspect of an agreement. There are phases in this agreement and they will try to determine the details of those phases,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said in a report from Doha.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas spokesman, told Al Jazeera: “It is clear that we are making progress. There are some good points.
“But so far we are still talking about the main issue, which is the complete ceasefire and the complete withdrawal from Gaza. We hope to find some good and positive answers today.”
Hamdan said one of the “key elements” discussed was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of sending the army to Rafah.
Israel, for its part, has repeatedly said it would continue its invasion of Rafah regardless of a possible deal with Hamas. United Nations agencies and aid groups have long warned that a ground operation would lead to catastrophe for the more than 1.5 million people housed there.
“Unfortunately, there has been a clear statement from Netanyahu that he will continue the attack no matter what may happen, whether there is a ceasefire or not,” Hamdan said. “That means there will be no ceasefire and that means the attack will continue, which is contrary to what we are discussing.”
“At least we want to know exactly what it means, his statement and the reaction of the mediators. We assume that any success in a ceasefire means that there will be no further attacks on Gaza and Rafah,” he added.
The negotiations, Al Jazeera’s Ahelbarra said, focused on convincing Hamas that it must refrain from demanding a permanent ceasefire from Israel in the first phase of the deal, as this was unlikely.
“Behave calmly”
More than 240 people were captured on October 7 when Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,100 people.
Then Israel began its war on Gaza, which killed more than 34,600 Palestinians, reduced more than 70 percent of Palestinian territory to rubble and pushed parts of the population into starvation.
A first round of negotiations between Israel and Hamas in November resulted in the release of about 100 prisoners in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. But since then the talks have largely stalled.
In recent weeks, the mediators have again tried to reach an agreement. They are now waiting for Hamas to respond to the proposal.
Although there was talk of “progress” in negotiations on Saturday, Israeli Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz urged caution towards such reports.
“A response to the draft contract has not yet been received. Once received, the War Cabinet will meet and discuss it,” Gantz said in a statement.
“Until then, I advise all ‘political elements’ and all decision makers to wait for official updates, remain calm and not fall into hysteria for political reasons,” he added.
Meanwhile, in his comments to Al Jazeera, Hamas’ Hamdan said the war could end immediately if the US decided to do so.
“We need to talk about the actual position of the United States, because that is the main issue that will influence the position of the Israelis and especially Netanyahu,” he said.
“If the US government has clearly told Netanyahu: Enough is enough… I assure you that will happen.”