Cairo to Host Indirect Peace Negotiations Between Israel and Hamas on Sunday

Indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, aimed at brokering a ceasefire, are scheduled to begin on Sunday.

Other mediators scheduled to take part in the peace talks include the just-arrived CIA director, William Burns, and White House adviser on Middle East Affairs, Bret McGurk.

Additional mediators include Qatar's Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and Major General Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt Intelligence.

Reports are quoting Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, as saying that if a ceasefire is in place, Israel should be flexible. Reports added that earlier, El-Sisi had called upon Biden to ensure a complete withdrawal by the Israeli forces from the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors.

Addressing a meeting together with the visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv on August 19, these are some of the passageways the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retreat troops from. Meanwhile, Netanyahu argued that he began to have a second thought about this following another meeting concerning Israeli soldiers killed whose Prime Minister Netanyahu met with their families. He has said that his second thought is that such a pullback will open more way for the infiltration of Hamas militants into Gaza and enhancing arms smuggling.

Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar had designated his deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, the point man for the negotiations, attended by another senior official from the movement, Ghazi Hamad, who is based in Beirut.

In a closely related development, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum were also carried out protests that reflected the general demand for the release of hostages held by Hamas. These protests were carried out at the doorstep of the house of Prime Minister Netanyahu, with the desire to push for undertakings that sought to have those captured in Gaza secured release returned.

Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The said attack killed 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage to Gaza. Now, the Israeli government is stating that 111 of the hostages remain captive of Hamas, who killed the other 39.