By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray
CAIRO (Reuters) – A delegation from Palestinian militant group Hamas will visit Cairo on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters, amid expectations that they will deliver a written response to an Israeli proposal on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release.
The Hamas official, who declined to be identified, spoke on Friday after CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital for meetings about the conflict in Gaza, according to an Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo airport.
Egypt 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 one million people have taken shelter near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is also taking part in the fight against Israel in Gaza, reiterated on Friday the demands of the Palestinian resistance factions which include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of all displaced persons to their homes.
“There is a complete and continuous coordination between all resistance factions, and there is consensus on the resistance’s demands”, the group added in the statement.
Citing a senior Egyptian source, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV also reported that Cairo will receive the Hamas delegation on Saturday to discuss developments in the Gaza truce talks.
Mediators say they have been waiting for Hamas to deliver its response to the latest version of a proposal for a truce and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza in return for the freedom of many Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel in the cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that triggered the conflict, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli army says over 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat since.
At least, 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 77,000 others have been wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza Strip since Oct 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
(Reporting by Nidal al Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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