Israeli and Hamas delegations failed to reach an agreement in the Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo on Sunday. Neither party was willing to agree to several compromises presented by mediators, sources told Reuters.
However, a senior U.S. official, described the talks as “constructive”, saying they were conducted in a spirit on all sides to reach “a final and implementable agreement.”
“The process will continue over the coming days through working groups to further address remaining issues and details,” said the anonymous official to Reuters.
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The meeting in Cairo was the culmination of months of talks after the Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023 on Israel and Israel’s devastating military campaign since then.
One of the key points of contention in the ongoing talks, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, includes an Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
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Mediators put forward several alternatives to the presence of Israeli forces on the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor which cuts across the middle of the Gaza Strip, but none were accepted by the parties by either party.
Israel also took issue with releasing several Palestinian detainees and demanded that they exit Gaza if released, the sources added.
Teams from Israel, the United States and Egypt have been cooperating to narrow gaps, with Qatar and Egypt walking Hamas through the proposal on Saturday. On Sunday, Israel joined the talks and brought up their issues with the current proposal.
Hamas said Israel had backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the Philadelphi corridor and had added new conditions, including evaluations of displaced Palestinians as they return to the more heavily populated north when the ceasefire begins.
“We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.
In July, Hamas had accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war.
The Hamas delegation left Cairo on Sunday after reiterating its demand that any agreement must stipulate a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, said senior official Izzat El-Reshiq to Reuters.
