A Hamas official announced today, Friday, that the movement has concluded ceasefire talks in Cairo. The official added that they are now waiting to see what the mediators will bring back from their discussions with Israel at the beginning of the week, which seems to be the most serious attempt in weeks to halt the fighting. Mediators have intensified their efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, hoping to avert an Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, where more than one million displaced people live at the southern edge of the territory.
Israel has stated that it will attack the city if a ceasefire agreement is not reached soon. Washington, its close ally, has urged Israel not to proceed with the attack, warning of significant civilian casualties if the assault on the city continues. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, met with Egyptian mediators in Cairo last week to discuss the ceasefire, marking his first visit since December. Israel is now expected to participate in discussions at the beginning of the week in Paris with American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators.
Two Egyptian security sources confirmed that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will head to Paris today, Friday, for talks with the Israelis after concluding discussions with Haniyeh yesterday, Thursday. Israel has not publicly commented on the Paris talks. The Hamas official, who requested anonymity, stated that the movement has not presented any new proposals in talks with the Egyptians, but is waiting to see what the mediators will return with from their upcoming discussions with the Israelis.
"We did not present another paper; we just discussed our paper with the Egyptians and are waiting for their return from Paris," he added. The last time similar talks took place in Paris, at the beginning of February, the outlines for the first extended ceasefire in the war were agreed upon by Israel and the United States. Hamas responded with a counterproposal that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected, calling it "fantasy."
Hamas, which is believed to still be holding over 100 hostages taken during the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, has stated that it will not release them except as part of a ceasefire that concludes with an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel insists it will not withdraw until Hamas is eliminated.
Late Thursday evening, Netanyahu presented an official plan for Gaza to the security cabinet once the fighting ceases. He confirmed that Israel expects to maintain its security control over the territory after destroying Hamas, and does not see any role for the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. Washington prefers that the Palestinian Authority has a role after it is reformed.
Two Palestinian officials familiar with the negotiations reported that Hamas has not changed its position in the latest effort to reach an agreement, still insisting on a ceasefire that concludes with an Israeli withdrawal.
#### Rafah Under Fire
Residents and health officials reported that Israeli planes and tanks bombed areas across the Gaza Strip at night. The Health Ministry in Gaza stated that 104 people were killed and 160 others were injured in the Israeli bombardment in the past 24 hours. An Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah killed 10 individuals. The bombardment targeted other areas of the city, exacerbating fears among the displaced about the expansion of Israeli ground operations. Over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million are concentrated in Rafah.
In a morgue in the city, a family sat beside the body of their child, killed by Israeli shelling at night. Family members comforted the small body wrapped in a shroud. The strikes also killed civilians at night in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, one of the few areas that had not yet been breached by Israeli forces. In a video obtained by Reuters, grieving families gathered in a hospital where Ahmad Azzam held his child’s body wrapped in a shroud, crying, "You killed them, Netanyahu... you killed this innocent child!".
The Health Ministry in Gaza stated in a report today, Friday, that at least 29,514 Palestinians have been killed, and 69,616 others injured in the Israeli bombardments since October 7.
