Under the auspices of Egypt and Qatar will begin “a new round of negotiations” on Thursday in Cairo aimed at achieving “calm in the Gaza Strip” as well as an exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages, an Egyptian official told AFP today.

Cairo urges “both sides to show the necessary flexibility” to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza, the official added, who asked not to be named, assuring that “Egypt is developing intensive and persistent efforts to reach a ceasefire agreementbetween Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.

A well-informed Hamas source also confirmed that the Palestinian Islamist movement has accepted this new round of negotiations, with the aim of “an armistice, the end of the war and an exchange of prisoners“.

Last week, Hamas said the proposed new truce would include a six-week pause in fighting, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and an increase in aid to Gaza. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing.

On Tuesday, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani said he had received a “overall positive” response from Hamas regarding “the general framework of the hostage agreement“.

For its part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, was studying this response by Hamas.

The head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinkenwho is touring the region, said today from Jerusalem that he hopes for a deal on the hostages being held in Gaza, noting that “a lot of work” remains to be done to achieve that and to make progress in moving aid to the Palestinian enclave.