Delegations from Egypt, the US, Qatar and Israel are expected to meet tomorrow in Rome, as part of contacts in view of the possible declaration of a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip. The news was reported by the Egyptian news outlet Al-Qahera, which is believed to have close ties to the Egyptian intelligence service, citing a “senior official”.

“A four-way meeting involving Egyptian officials, their US and Qatari counterparts, with the Israeli intelligence chief present, will be held in Rome on Sunday to hammer out a cease-fire agreement in Gaza,” the source said. she.

Cairo insists “on the need” for the agreement to ensure an “immediate ceasefire” and “the entry of humanitarian aid”, as well as to “guarantee the freedom of movement of the citizens of Gaza” and “the complete withdrawal (including the Israelis armed forces) from the Rafah crossing point,” on Egypt’s border with the Palestinian enclave, according to the same source.

Egypt, Qatar and the US have been brokering for months the so-far fruitless indirect negotiations to declare a truce between Israel and Hamas, which would be accompanied by the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli detention centers. reservation.

The recent talks are based on the framework presented in late May by US President Joe Biden, according to which it was an Israeli proposal.

Tomorrow’s appointment comes as tensions appear to be rising again in relations between Israel and the US, as Washington presses its ally for a truce deal in the Gaza Strip.

This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress before meeting separately with President Joe Biden and then his Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ms. Harris, now the Democratic candidate for the US presidency in the November elections, hinted that there could be a major change in US policy regarding Gaza, as she promised that she would not be “silent” about the plight of civilians, while he insisted that a peace agreement should be concluded as soon as possible.

The war in the Gaza Strip erupted on October 7 when Hamas’s military arm launched an unprecedented raid on southern Israel that killed 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 111 are still in the Gaza Strip, but 39 are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli military.

In retaliation, Israel has vowed to wipe out the Palestinian Islamist movement, in power in the enclave since 2007, which the US and EU designate as a terrorist organization, and its wide-ranging military operations since then have killed at least 39,175. people, the majority of them civilians, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.