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©(Iranian Foreign Ministry, AFP)
The leader of Hamas arrived in Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian militant group might be inching toward another truce and hostage release deal in the Gaza war.
The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on “aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters,” the group said in a statement.
He was due to meet Egypt's spy chief for talks on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners,” a source close to the group told AFP.
Haniyeh, who earlier met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Qatar, was heading a “high-level delegation” to Egypt, a frequent mediator between Israel and Palestinians, the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families late Tuesday that he had twice sent his spy chief to Europe in efforts to “free our hostages.”
“It's our duty; I'm responsible for the release of all the hostages,” the premier told the relatives of some of the 129 captives still believed to be held in Gaza.
“Saving them is a supreme task.”
“I have just sent the head of Mossad to Europe twice to promote a process to free our hostages. I will spare no effort on the subject, and our duty is to bring them all back.”
[readmore url="https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/world/209525"]
US news site Axios reported Monday that Mossad chief David Barnea had met CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe.
Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, helped broker a week-long truce and hostage-prisoner swap in November in which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Axios also reported Tuesday that Israel had offered to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least one week in exchange for more than three dozen hostages held by Hamas.
Before arriving in Cairo, Haniyeh met with the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in Doha, the capital of Qatar, as shown in images broadcast by Tehran.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on “aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters,” the group said in a statement.
He was due to meet Egypt's spy chief for talks on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners,” a source close to the group told AFP.
Haniyeh, who earlier met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Qatar, was heading a “high-level delegation” to Egypt, a frequent mediator between Israel and Palestinians, the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families late Tuesday that he had twice sent his spy chief to Europe in efforts to “free our hostages.”
“It's our duty; I'm responsible for the release of all the hostages,” the premier told the relatives of some of the 129 captives still believed to be held in Gaza.
“Saving them is a supreme task.”
“I have just sent the head of Mossad to Europe twice to promote a process to free our hostages. I will spare no effort on the subject, and our duty is to bring them all back.”
[readmore url="https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/world/209525"]
US news site Axios reported Monday that Mossad chief David Barnea had met CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe.
Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, helped broker a week-long truce and hostage-prisoner swap in November in which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Axios also reported Tuesday that Israel had offered to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least one week in exchange for more than three dozen hostages held by Hamas.
Before arriving in Cairo, Haniyeh met with the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in Doha, the capital of Qatar, as shown in images broadcast by Tehran.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
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