Israel reportedly warned Egypt that this was the “last chance” for a hostage deal with Hamas before it attacked Rafah, Axios reported. On Friday (Apr 27), talks between Israeli officials and the Egyptian delegation to discuss Israel’s upcoming offensive in Rafah and efforts to reach a hostage deal with Hamas came to an end....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
According to Channel 12 news, Israel said that it would not let Hamas delay the IDF strike on Rafah by dragging the hostage deal negotiation. “This is the last chance before we go into Rafah,” the official said.
Egypt and Qatar are prime negotiators aiming to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Egypt is concerned that if Israel finally invades Rafah, it has repeatedly warned, tens of thousands of Palestinians would enter Egypt, perhaps resulting in a border breach that jeopardises Egyptian security.
The southern Gaza city of Rafah is where over one million displaced Palestinians are reported to be living after Israel attacked Gaza.
Earlier this week, Gen. Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Ronen Bar, Director of the Shin Bet security agency, visited Cairo.
According to media sources, during their visit, Egypt provided new proposals for negotiating a hostage settlement between Israel and Hamas. On Friday, an Egyptian delegation visited Israel to conclude the hostage deal talks.
A senior Israeli official told Hebrew media that negotiations were “very good, focused, held in good spirits, and progressed in all parameters.” The official stated that Egyptians understood that time is of importance in the Rafah operation and wanted to put pressure on Hamas to reach an agreement for the release of hostages.
“This is part of what the negotiations are going to focus on now. The number of days of the ceasefire will be linked to the number of hostages who will be released. If Hamas does want a humanitarian deal, Israel will not be the obstacle.” an Israeli official told Axios on Friday..<<CONTINUE READING>>
