A senior Hamas delegation departed Cairo late Saturday following talks with Egyptian officials aimed at brokering a ceasefire agreement and the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, according to a statement by Hamas.
The delegation, led by Chairman of the Hamas Leadership Council Muhammad Darwish, included other key leaders, among them Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, and Eng. Nizar Awadallah.
“The delegation reviewed the movement’s vision for reaching a comprehensive deal that achieves a ceasefire, prisoner exchange, relief, and reconstruction. It was agreed to exert further efforts and continue communication to ensure the success of these efforts,” Hamas said in the written statement on Saturday.
According to the statement, the talks also addressed the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and “the need for urgent action to deliver aid and supplies to the Strip’s citizens.”
Israel renewed its bombing campaign and launched a complete siege on Gaza in March, saying the attacks would put pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal and release the remaining 59 Israeli hostages. More than 2,151 Palestinians have since been killed, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave.
The health ministry meanwhile raised its overall toll from the conflict in Gaza to 52,243, saying it had confirmed the deaths of nearly 700 people reported missing. The death toll includes those killed in the past six weeks of renewed conflict after the collapse of a ceasefire on March 18, as well as more than 16,000 children and 12,000 women who have been killed in the war. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
In January, the Israel Defense Forces said it had killed 20,000 Hamas operatives since October 7.
A senior UN official in Gaza City, northern Gaza, warned of the “deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life,” a day after the agency ran out of food in the strip. Human rights officials have repeatedly accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war – charges Israeli officials denied.
“People are not surviving in Gaza – those who aren’t shot or bombed are slowly dying. They are being suffocated,” said Jonathan Whittall, the head of office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“What we see around us is endless suffering under a total and complete blockade,” he added. “People in Gaza tell me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life – in plain sight.”
‘Some progress’
The head of Mossad, David Barnea, was in Doha, Qatar, earlier this week, for ceasefire talks – but there was no indication of a significant breakthrough.
But with the renewed effort, mediators in Qatar expressed their belief in “some progress” in both parties’ readiness to achieve a ceasefire deal last week after Barnea’s visit.
“Hamas is ready to release all the hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners, according to terms that Israel may reject,” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told reporters on Sunday. “Israel seeks the release of all hostages without offering any horizon for ending the war on Gaza.”
There are currently 59 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, of which up to 24 are believed alive. One of the bodies still held in Gaza is a deceased soldier from 2014.
An Egyptian official had told CNN that the Israel has been invited to meet with negotiators in Cairo on Monday. It’s also unclear if Israel has accepted the invitation.
CNN reached out to Hamas for comment on the details of Hamas’ proposal for a ceasefire.
An Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN that Israel has not received a new offer from the mediators for now.
“Israel only reacts to offers passed on by the mediators,” the source said.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “We’ve got to be good to Gaza.” Taking questions on the way to Italy, Trump said, “there’s a very big need for medicine, food and medicine. We’re taking care of it.”
The president, whose administration has unapologetically backed Israel, offered no details about what steps the US was taking to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Earlier this month, Israel put forward a ceasefire proposal that called for a disarmament of Gaza without guaranteeing an end to the war, which violates two of Hamas’ red lines.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.