Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo as Israel puts cease-fire agreement ‘on the table’

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday to engage in negotiations for a cease-fire after Israel put an agreement on the table this weekend.

The last-minute talks are a final push to secure a potential halt in fighting before the Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins. While Israel put forward an approved plan, it has yet to send a delegation of its own to the negotiations in Egypt. 

“The path to a cease-fire right now literally at this hour is straightforward. And there’s a deal on the table. There’s a framework deal,” a U.S. official told reporters Sunday.

If Hamas rejects the current deal, Israel says it will only join the negotiations if Hamas first provides a full list of all the hostages who are still alive, a request Hamas has so far rejected.

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The potential six-week cease-fire would be the first lengthy pause in fighting since Israel began its retaliatory campaign in October of last year. There was a brief pause in fighting late last year as Israel and Hamas exchanged prisoners for hostages, but the deal broke down in a matter of days.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that while he is ready for another temporary cease-fire to bring hostages home, the war will continue until Hamas is fully rooted out of Gaza.

Netanyahu said an Israeli invasion of the final Hamas stronghold in Rafah will move forward in the coming days or weeks depending on the success of negotiations.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. has warned that any invasion of Rafah must include a clear means of protecting civilians in the region, many of whom have been crowded into the border town as a result of Israeli strikes in more northern areas of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu has agreed with the position that Israel must take care to protect civilians.

The U.S. has also called for more aid to Gaza. President Biden’s administration launched an aid campaign to airdrop food and supplies to Gaza. The U.S. military partnered with the Jordanian Royal Air Force to airdrop some 38,000 meals into the region on Saturday alone.