Hamas and Israel are very close to an agreement to reach a truce according to Egyptian sources.

Negotiations are ongoing in Cairo between representatives of Hamas, Egypt and Qatar, while the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency is also in the Egyptian capital.

Saudi sources report to Al-Sharq newspaper that Hamas is expected to accept the proposal of a truce – release of hostages – release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas says it has received a promise from the United States for a ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the third phase of the deal.

However, Israeli media reports that, contrary to reports, the Netanyahu government will in no way agree to an end to the war as part of a deal.

The leadership of Hamas has reportedly approved the implementation of the first phase of the agreement proposed by Egypt for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a senior official of the Palestinian organization.

According to the same sources, this first phase concerns the exchange of hostages and is the first step for an agreement that can pave the way for a final ceasefire agreement.

Hamas will soon announce that it has agreed to the Egyptian mediation proposal, Arab media reports said, while the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds said the announcement would be made in the near future.

What does the proposal for a truce provide?

The proposal calls for a “40-day ceasefire” and the “freeing of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of these hostages,” added Britain’s foreign minister, David Cameron, also in the Saudi capital.

The proposal calls for a 40-day ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages abducted during Hamas’s military arm’s unprecedented raid on southern Israel on October 7, the trigger for that war.

But Hamas insists on demanding a permanent ceasefire, which the Israeli government rejects, threatening to order a ground operation in Rafah (south), which it says is the “last” stronghold of its battalions, but where more than a million have taken refuge Palestinians, the vast majority of them displaced by the bombing and fighting.

“We will do what is necessary to defeat, to crush our enemy, not excluding RafaIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated this week that the operation in the city will take place “with or without an agreement” for a ceasefire.

For Husham Badran, a member of the Hamas politburo, Mr. Netanyahu’s statements about the attack on Rafah “they clearly aim to nullify any possibility of agreement».

On the contrary, for US Secretary of State Blinken “the only obstacle” to the ceasefire “is Hamas”.

On the night of Friday into Saturday, AFP sources in hospitals spoke of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah and neighboring Khan Younis, which has been almost completely leveled following heavy fighting with Hamas that followed the Israeli ground operation there.