Hamas delegates traveling to Cairo in \u201cpositive spirit\u201d after studying latest proposal for truce agreement
\nCAIRO
\nHamas said on Friday it was sending a delegation to Cairo to discuss a deal for a truce and the release of hostages in Gaza, hours after U.S. CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital, according to Egyptian sources.
\nEgypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been leading efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas to broker a deal for a ceasefire in the conflict that began on Oct. 7.
\nThe Hamas and CIA officials will meet Egyptian mediators on Saturday, an Egyptian security source said, though it was unclear whether they would meet separately or together.
\nHamas said its delegates were traveling to Cairo in a \u201cpositive spirit\u201d after studying the latest proposal for a truce agreement.
\n\u201cWe are determined to secure an agreement in a way that fulfils Palestinians\u2019 demands,\u201d the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
\nA U.S. official said the United States believed there had been some progress in talks but was still waiting to hear more.
\nThe CIA declined to comment, reflecting its policy of not disclosing the director\u2019s travel.
\nCeasefire talks have continued for months without a decisive breakthrough. Israel has said it is determined to eliminate Hamas, while Hamas says it wants a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
\nEgypt made a renewed push to revive negotiations late last month. Cairo is alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli ground operation against Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million people have taken shelter near the border with Egypt\u2019s Sinai Peninsula.
\nEgyptian sources say both sides have made some concessions recently, leading to progress in the talks, though Israel has continued to say an operation in Rafah is imminent.
\nThe war began after Hamas staged a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and 253 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.
\nMore than 34,000 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\u2019s health ministry.
\nA 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hamas delegates traveling to Cairo in \u201cpositive spirit\u201d after studying latest proposal for truce agreement CAIRO Hamas said on Friday it was sending a delegation to Cairo to discuss a deal for a truce and the release of hostages in Gaza, hours after U.S. CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital, according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-404725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n