Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo end with no breakthrough

Hamas and Israeli negotiators left Egypt after two days of negotiations failed to break the months-long deadlock

Mounted police officers at a rally in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since October. AFP

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The latest push for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas ended in Cairo with no breakthrough, sources told The National, allowing the devastating war in the Palestinian enclave to continue and opening the door for further regional tension.

The two days of talks, brokered by mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended on Sunday with Israel and Hamas still at odds over issues that include the return of displaced Palestinians to Gaza and the fate of a strip on the Egypt-Gaza border that Israel captured in May and is refusing to withdraw from, the sources said.

There were also differences between Israel and Hamas on the Palestinian detainees the militant group wants released in exchange for the hostages it holds. The sources said Israel has objected to the release of some high-profile Palestinians detainees and insists that others will be freed but only into exile abroad, not to their hometowns in the occupied West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

Negotiators from both sides left Egypt on Sunday evening, hours after a major escalation in fighting between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that underlined the urgent need for a peace deal to prevent the Gaza war from becoming a wider regional conflict.

The talks brought together CIA director William Burns, his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, and the director of Israeli security agency Shin Bet. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman also participated in the Cairo negotiations.

Soon after the talks ended, Hamas said Israel had backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the border strip, the Salah Al Din corridor that is also known as the Philadelphi corridor, and had put forward new conditions, including the need to screen displaced Palestinians seeking to return to homes in Gaza's more heavily populated north once a ceasefire is in place.

Last week, Mahmoud Taha, Hamas head of media relations in Beirut, told The National that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would “not get anything from the resistance, and Hamas will not agree to any additional concessions”. Mr Taha called on regional allies to “widen the confrontation with Israel”.

According to the sources, Hamas has not moved on its core demands for a full Israeli withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire. Israel objects to both, arguing that it will not stop its military operations in Gaza before Hamas is eradicated and all the hostages are freed.

The US, Egypt and Qatar have so far managed to bring about only one brief truce since the Gaza war began on October 7 after an attack by Hamas and its local allies on southern Israel that killed about 1,200. The Palestinian militants also took about 250 hostages back to Gaza.

The attack triggered an Israeli military campaign that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health authority. It has injured more than twice that number and displaced most of the enclave's 2.3 million residents.

A week-long truce in November led to the release of about 100 hostages. About 100 more remain in captivity, of whom more than 30 are believed to have died, according to the Israeli military.

US officials repeated in the last two weeks that the talks were “positive” and that Israel had agreed to an amended deal, which included conditions put forward by Mr Netanyahu. It called on Hamas to accept the new agreement despite the recent changes.

Speaking at a news conference in Halifax, Canada, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was still “feverishly” working in Cairo to secure a ceasefire and a hostage deal.

Israel's war on Hamas prompted Hezbollah to begin cross-border attacks on Israel in support of its ally, with near daily exchanges of drone and rocket attacks and air strikes.

However, Sunday's attacks by the two archenemies were the most intense so far, with Hezbollah saying it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, which said it struck Lebanon with about 100 jets to prevent a larger attack.

Any major spillover in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah risks becoming a wider regional confrontation drawing in Hezbollah's backer Iran, along with Tehran's proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as Israel's main ally the US.

With three deaths confirmed in Lebanon and one in Israel, both sides indicated they were happy to avoid further escalation for now, but warned that there could be more strikes to come.