Israel and Hamas yesterday both dampened hopes of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks toward a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported “significant progress.”
As the Gaza war raged on into a seventh month, Israel is under growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire, including from its top ally and arms supplier the US.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel is “one step away from victory” and has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza’s southern Rafah city.
Photo: AFP
However, on the same day, the army also announced it had pulled its forces out of southern Gaza, although military commanders stressed that the withdrawal was tactical and did not signal an end to the war.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said the troops would “prepare for future missions, including ... in Rafah” on the Egyptian border, where almost 1.5 million Gazans live in crowded shelters and tents.
Amid the threats and ongoing fighting, Netanyahu has sent negotiators to fresh truce talks that started in Cairo on Sunday, joined by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
US President Joe Biden sent CIA Director William Burns to the talks, three days after a terse telephone call with Netanyahu in which Biden demanded a halt to the fighting, and greater steps to help and protect Gaza civilians.
Egypt’s state-linked news outlet al-Qahera reported “significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement,” citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source.
The Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return within two days to finalize the terms of the agreement, it said, while the US and Israeli teams were also planning 48 hours of consultations.
However, Israel’s Ynet news outlet cited an unidentified Israeli official as tempering the upbeat Egyptian report and stressing that “we still don’t see a deal on the horizon.”
“The distance is still great and there has been nothing dramatic in the meantime,” the Israeli official was quoted as saying.
A senior Hamas official said that “we cannot speak of concrete progress so far,” with disagreement centered on the pace of displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza City in the north.
On Sunday, after Israeli forces left Khan Yunis, displaced Palestinians streamed back to the city, stunned by the level of destruction.
“We don’t have a city anymore — only rubble,” said Maha Thaer, a mother of four, as she walked among the charred ruins.
“There is absolutely nothing left. I could not stop myself crying as I walked through the streets,” said the 38-year-old, whose home was partially destroyed.
“All the streets have been bulldozed, and the smell... I watched people digging and bringing out the bodies,” she said.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
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