Musa Abu Marzouk, the Deputy Head of the Executive Office of Hamas, stated that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is making significant efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Abu Marzouk added, "President Sisi has his eyes on Palestine and on our children and women." The Hamas leader pledged that his movement would triumph in Gaza against the Israeli army, saying, "By God, victory is near, and we will achieve it and dedicate our victory to President Sisi and the Arab leaders."
In a telephone interview with journalist Amr Adib, he noted that after reviewing the framework of the American paper, the movement confirmed it was a good paper but had several inquiries and clarifications. He mentioned that Egypt has called for parties to meet on Saturday in Cairo to reach an agreement, indicating that the Egyptian mediator urged the movement to arrive in the capital before Saturday, but it was unable to do so.
He pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to refuse to send an Israeli delegation to discuss the paper that Washington claimed Tel Aviv had agreed to. Abu Marzouk emphasized that the movement has expressed its desire for a permanent ceasefire following the release of detainees, stating that they inquired about the process for the return of displaced (unarmed) individuals from the south to the north. He added, "We told them how they would know if they are unarmed, because this means the Israeli side will set up checkpoints, even though the paper states that the occupation will withdraw from the area... We have not changed the paper but have raised 10 specific questions."
