Hamas negotiators, CIA chief in Cairo for Gaza truce talks

CAIRO >> Hamas negotiators arrived in Cairo today for intensified talks on a possible Gaza truce that would see the return to Israel of some hostages, a Hamas official told Reuters, with the CIA director already present for the indirect diplomacy.

Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV channel also confirmed the arrival of the Hamas delegation in Cairo.

“The results today will be different. We have reached an agreement over many points, and a few point remain,” one Egyptian security source told Reuters.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation efforts sounded cautious optimism.

“Things look better this time but whether an agreement is on hand would depend on whether Israel has offered what it takes for that to happen,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

The Hamas delegation arrived from the Palestinian Islamist movement’s headquarters in Qatar, which, along with Egypt, has tried to mediate a follow-up to a brief November ceasefire. Washington, while formally shunning Hamas, has called on it to enter a deal.

The talks have stumbled, however, over Hamas’ long-standing demand for a commitment to end the almost seven-month-old offensive by Israel, which insists that after any truce it would resume operations designed to disarm and dismantle the faction.

Signaling a possible breakthrough, Hamas said on Friday it would come to Cairo in a “positive spirit” after studying the latest proposal for a deal, little of which has been made public. Israel has previously said it was open to the new terms.

Egyptian sources said William Burns, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, arrived in Cairo on Friday. He has been involved in previous rounds of truce talks and Washington has signalled there may be progress this time.

The CIA declined to comment on Burns’ itinerary.

Egypt made a renewed push to revive negotiations late last

month, alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli assault against Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

A major Israeli operation in Rafah could deal a huge blow to fragile humanitarian operations in Gaza and put many more lives at risk, according to U.N. officials.

The war began after Hamas staged a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.

Over 34,600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 77,000 have been wounded by Israeli fire during a campaign that has laid waste to the coastal enclave, according to Gaza’s health ministry.