Israel will not be sending a negotiating team to Cairo, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Sunday, after receiving an unsatisfactory response from Hamas on the latest framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris last weekend, The Times of Israel reports.
The Gaza-based terror organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of living hostages and to lock down how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage freed, added the official.
Hamas’s position was conveyed to Israel through Qatar.
According to Channel 12, the war cabinet and the professional echelon all agreed that there was no point in sending a delegation to Egypt for ongoing talks given Hamas’s response.
Several Hebrew media outlets reported growing pessimism in Israel on Sunday that a hostage and truce deal can be reached before Ramadan. Unnamed officials cited by Channel 12, Ynet and others said Jerusalem suspects Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar has no intention of reaching an agreement in the coming days and hopes to escalate violence over Ramadan, which is expected to start March 10.
In such a scenario, Israel is wary of an escalation not just along its borders with Gaza and Lebanon, but also across the West Bank, where tensions are high, as well as in Jerusalem, where clashes over the Temple Mount and access to the holy site are widely expected.
The Axios news site reported Sunday that US President Joe Biden was pushing Egypt and Qatar to get Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire deal before Ramadan.
Two US officials quoted in the report said that Biden, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi “agreed the onus is currently on Hamas to close remaining gaps in the package.”
