Hamas Leader Visits Cairo As Talks On Another Gaza Truce Appear To Gather Pace
HuffPost
Israel and Hamas have recently relaunched indirect talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the U.S., aimed at instituting another cease-fire and hostage swap.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader traveled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another cease-fire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel’s offensive shows no signs of slowing.
Hamas militants have been putting up stiff resistance, even as the Israeli army claims to be making great progress in eradicating them. The visit to Cairo by its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel. It was a show of strength after a 10-week war that has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, and driven some 1.9 million — nearly 85% of the population — from their homes.
Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, saying it must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of its Oct. 7 rampage across southern Israel that triggered the war.
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