Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.
The Hamas bears responsibility for the destruction in Gaza, Reuters/Ramadan Abed
Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.
The Hamas visit to Cairo was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, that would include a hostage deal.
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza were now more likely.
"(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts," he told CNN on Sunday.
"So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I'm not going to predict exactly when it will happen ... we've come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line."
Fighting raged on meanwhile in the enclave and the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it had to halt aid deliveries through one crossing a day after armed gangs inside Gaza seized food from a truck convoy.
Hamas is seeking a ceasefire agreement that would end the war while Israel has said the war will only end when Hamas is eradicated.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Israeli leaders hailed on Tuesday a pledge by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that there would be "hell to pay" in the Middle East unless hostages held in the Gaza Strip were released ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.
The Israeli military confirmed on Tuesday that its forces had killed Salman Jumaa, a senior Hezbollah figure responsible for liaising with the Syrian army, in Damascus.
Five weeks ago, Moshe Weinstein found the body of his son Omer and four farm workers killed by a Hezbollah rocket, their bodies lying in an apple orchard that he has cultivated for years.
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