Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh travelled to Egypt on Wednesday for talks with Egyptian officials who are trying to broker another truce.
During the meeting, participants discussed which hostages still held by Hamas could be released as part of a new truce and which Palestinian prisoners Israel might release in return. However, a Palestinian official told the BBC, the meeting ended “inconclusively.”
Taher Al-Nono, Haniyeh’s media adviser, told the media that Hamas was not prepared to discuss the release of Israeli hostages until Israel permanently ends its military campaign in Gaza and increases humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. He noted:
We cannot talk about negotiations while Israel continues its aggression. Discussing any proposal related to prisoners must occur after the cessation of aggression.
Israel is insisting that all women and infirm men remaining among the hostages be released, a source with knowledge of the talks said. The Wall Street Journal newspaper quoted Egyptian officials as saying Hamas had rejected an Israeli offer to end hostilities for one week in exchange for dozens of hostages.
