CAIRO — Talks over a possible deal on a pause in fighting and the release of remaining hostages continued Wednesday in the Egyptian capital.
The discussions, which began Tuesday and are slated to be held over three days, are focused on a framework that would pause fighting for six weeks. CIA Director William J. Burns met with Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi separately on Tuesday as part of those talks.
Two people with knowledge of the talks, both speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, gave mixed signals about the progress of talks. Both noted that obstacles remain.
“According to our side, the Egyptian side, it is very positive,” said a former Egyptian defense official briefed on the talks. “But we are trying now to go into the full details.”
The former official said sticking points include the number of hostages who would be released and how many Palestinians would be freed from Israeli prisons in return. Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw outside Gaza’s cities during the pause and “to secure the corridors to let Palestinians” travel inside the enclave, the former official said. They are also pushing for Israeli surveillance planes and drones to be prohibited from flying over Gazan cities during the pause.
Egypt and Qatar have direct contact with Hamas, and “Hamas is trying to be more flexible this time,” the former official said. The militant group initially said it would not negotiate without a permanent cease-fire; now, it seems willing to accept a time-limited pause in fighting. “So now we are very positive,” the former official said. “All the minor things can be solved.”
But a diplomat in Cairo briefed on the talks said they were “inconclusive” so far.
The biggest hurdle is the “guarantees that Hamas requires in order to be sure that if a cease-fire is signed, then it will be respected,” according to the diplomat. On the Israeli side, the diplomat said, the chief sticking point is related to the list of names of Palestinian prisoners Hamas wants released from Israeli detention centers.
Discussions are ongoing, but an agreement does not appear imminent, the diplomat said.
The start of Ramadan in March has added to pressure to reach a deal, as has Israel’s stated plans for a military operation in Rafah, an overcrowded city in Gaza’s south.
But it remains unclear whether Israel will agree to a deal. The Israeli delegation in Cairo for the talks left on Tuesday night. “Netanyahu doesn’t want to solve the problem,” the former Egyptian official assessed. “He’s trying to put some obstacles all the time. But of course, we depend on the American side. William Burns is trying to push to immediately solve the problem.”
LINK: Latest Israel-Hamas war news and Gaza conflict updates – The Washington Post
