Hamas arrives in Egypt for ceasefire talks but Israel delegation absent
International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting, ITV News' Correspondent Emma Murphy reports from Tel Aviv
A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo on Sunday for further talks on a ceasefire deal, but Israel appeared to be absent from negotiations.
Speaking to CNN, a Hamas source refused to confirm any details about the militant group’s positions or demands.
The upcoming talks were expected to be held with Israel and Hamas representatives communicating from separate rooms.
But an Israeli official said it is not sending a delegation to Egypt on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
It cited the reason as Hamas had failing to respond to two Israeli demands: a list of hostages specifying which are alive and which are dead; and confirmation of the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for hostages.
International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins.
But information regarding the contents of the deal is scarce and being kept tightly away from the public domain.
On Saturday, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that Israel had “basically accepted” a six-week ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
According to the official, the sticking point in the deal is that Hamas has not yet agreed to a “defined category of vulnerable hostages.”
But another Hamas source said it would not agree to releasing hostages without a permanent ceasefire, and that there must be a guarantee of a certain amount of aid getting to both the north and south of Gaza before progress can be made.
It comes after 90 people were killed in the past 24 hours amid continued fighting in Gaza, the Gaza Ministry of Health said. Among the dead are 11 killed in a strike on a refugee camp next to a maternity hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The health ministry also reported at least 15 children died from malnutrition and dehydration as the humanitarian crisis sweeps through the enclave.drop
On Saturday, the US military dropped thousands of food and aid pallets over Gaza amid continued relief efforts.
Three C-130 cargo planes dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals into the besieged enclave on Saturday morning.
It is expected to be the first of many air drops, which were announced by President Joe Biden. The aid will be coordinated with Jordan, which has also conducted air drops to deliver food to Gaza.
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