EGYPT, QATAR LEAD MEDIATION EFFORT
The Egyptian official source stated that the proposal accepted by Hamas included a suspension of Israeli military operations for 60 days and outlined a framework for a comprehensive deal to end the nearly two-year-old conflict.
A source familiar with the negotiations said the proposal closely mirrored an earlier plan put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which Israel had accepted.
The mediators met Hamas representatives in Cairo on Sunday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister, joined the discussions on Monday and met both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Hamas representatives, said an official briefed on the meetings.
Israel approved the plan to take control of Gaza City earlier this month, but officials had said it could take weeks to start, leaving the door open for a ceasefire, even though Netanyahu had said it would get under way “fairly quickly” and end the war with Hamas’ defeat.
PALESTINIANS FLEE EXPECTED GAZA CITY ATTACK
An Israeli armored incursion into Gaza City could displace hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times during the war.
Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas’ last big urban bastion. But with Israel already holding 75% of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted guerrilla warfare.
Dani Miran, whose son Omri was taken hostage on October 7, said he feared the consequences of an Israeli ground offensive. “I’m scared that my son would be hurt,” he told Reuters in Tel Aviv on Monday.
In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.
Ahmed Mheisen, a Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, said 995 families had departed in recent days for the south.
“I am heading south because I need to ease my mental state,” Mousa Obaid, a Gaza City resident, told Reuters. “I do not want to keep moving left and right endlessly. There is no life left, and as you can see, living conditions are hard, prices are high, and we have been without work for over a year and a half.”
