A Hamas delegation has left Cairo following talks for a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza, Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera TV reported.
The Al Qahera TV reported late on Monday said that Hamas would return again with a written response to the passed to them by mediators from Qatar and Egypt on Monday.
Negotiations for the in the months following a weeklong cease-fire in November that saw the release of more than 100 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, also Monday, said the deal was “extraordinarily generous” and that Hamas had to “decide quickly” about the offer.
Blinken, who is on his seventh Middle East tour since the broke out in October, then travels to Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
The latest deal could see a pause in the relentless offensive in Gaza, where over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there.
Israel says the militants in the enclave are still holding 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted around 250 hostages.
is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries, including the US, Germany and Israel.
mf/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP)
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