Egypt and Qatar announced on Wednesday that they are sponsoring a new round of negotiations in Cairo to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip and release Palestinian prisoners and Israeli detainees.
On Tuesday, Egypt received the response of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to the proposed framework for a truce between the Palestinian resistance in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli occupation.
Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, said that Egypt will discuss all the details of the proposed framework with the concerned parties, and hold intensive meetings with them, to reach an agreement as soon as possible on its final formula.
Rashwan stated that Egypt had recently put forward a framework for a proposal to try to bring the viewpoints of all concerned parties closer, to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and restore peace and stability to the region. According to the proposal, Palestinian prisoners and Israeli detainees would be exchanged in stages, and humanitarian support for the people in the Strip would be increased.
Rashwan stressed that Egypt will continue its relentless efforts around the clock, to end the fighting in Gaza, and preserve the lives and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, to which the agreement on the proposed framework will be a necessary introduction. He added that Egypt will announce any new developments in the negotiations with the parties concerned.
Hamas proposed a ceasefire plan, which includes three phases, each lasting 45 days. The first phase includes the release of all female detainees, males under the age of 19, the elderly, and the sick, in exchange for “the release of all prisoners in the occupation prisons, including women, children, the elderly (over 50 years of age), and the sick, who were detained until the date of signing this agreement without exception.”
In the second phase, all remaining male detainees will be released in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip areas, and the start of comprehensive reconstruction work. In the third phase, remains and bodies will be exchanged. By the final stage, Hamas expects the two sides to reach an agreement on ending the war.
Qatari media reported that Hamas demanded that Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Turkey, Russia, and the United Nations be guarantors of the implementation of the agreement.
Moreover, an Israeli government spokesperson said that officials are “studying with interest” a new truce proposal in Gaza presented by Qatari negotiators. Spokesperson Avi Heyman added, “We received a notification from the Qatari negotiators. We are studying it. Mossad is studying with interest what was presented to us.”
In a related context, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the Israeli occupation forces committed 16 massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip, leaving 123 dead and 169 wounded during the past 24 hours.
The ministry indicated that many victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and the occupation is preventing ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them. This brings the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip to 27,708 and the number of wounded to 67,147.
In the meantime, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a post on the X platform that there is an alarming spread of diseases in Gaza due to a lack of sanitation and clean water.
UNRWA warned that only 4 of its health facilities, out of 22, are still operating in the Gaza Strip, due to the continued bombing by the Israeli occupation. The UN agency confirmed that 84% of health facilities were damaged by the Israeli attacks.
