Hopes for Gaza Truce Grow as Hamas Joins Talks in Cairo

TEL AVIV—Hamas officials are in Cairo Sunday aiming to reach a deal in the next 48 hours that would see the release of hostages in exchange for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, according to Egyptian officials, a push to stop the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Negotiators believe Hamas and Israel are close to being able to strike a deal over the next few days, Egyptian officials said. Key issues have yet to be fully agreed upon, including which hostages and which prisoners would be released. 

Even if the two negotiating teams can agree, another major challenge remains: Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, hasn’t been in contact for at least a week, raising concerns that the man who can implement a deal won’t be reachable, Egyptian and Qatari officials say.

Israel is also refraining from sending its senior negotiating team to Cairo until it receives a list of hostages Hamas knows are alive and can be handed over in the event of a deal. 

“I demand to know in advance the names of all the hostages who will be included in the outline,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Thursday news conference. 

Hamas is slated to hand over such a list on a Sunday, while Israel is meant to present a list of prisoners it will refuse to release, such as those convicted of planning or taking part in major terrorist attacks, Egyptian officials said. 

Israel gave Hamas a Ramadan deadline to return hostages held in Gaza or face a ground offensive in Rafah, a town on the border with Egypt where more than million displaced Gazans are currently seeking shelter. Ramadan, which begins this year around March 10, in recent years has been a flashpoint for violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.