"Hamas Leader Haniyeh to Visit Egypt on 20th for Ceasefire Negotiations"

"Expectations for Ceasefire Talks to Enable Additional Hostage Exchange"

Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian armed faction Hamas, is planning to visit Egypt for ceasefire negotiations, AFP reported on the 19th (local time). Through this visit by Haniyeh, it is expected that ceasefire talks for additional hostage exchanges with Israel will take place.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

AFP cited an anonymous source saying, "Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Egypt on the 20th with a senior Hamas delegation for ceasefire negotiations and talks on hostage-prisoner exchanges with Israel." Haniyeh is expected to hold talks with Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate (GNI), among others.

This visit to Egypt by Haniyeh is the second since the outbreak of hostilities with Israel. After Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7th triggered the war between the two sides, Haniyeh visited Egypt earlier last month. Especially as Israel has hinted at the possibility of a ceasefire for additional hostage exchanges, Haniyeh’s visit to Egypt has raised expectations for a ceasefire.

A source told AFP regarding the talks between the two sides, "They will discuss the cessation of attacks and war to prepare for the release of prisoners and the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip." If a ceasefire is negotiated during Haniyeh’s visit to Egypt, it is expected that Hamas will be able to release the 129 hostages still in captivity. Previously, during a temporary ceasefire last month between Israel and Hamas, 80 Israeli hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged and released.

Earlier, David Barnea, head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, William Burns, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, discussed a new negotiation plan for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip on the 18th in Warsaw, Poland.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, also stated that all hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip must be included in the new negotiations. Netanyahu emphasized, "I have dispatched the Mossad chief to Europe twice to advance the hostage release process," adding, "We will spare no effort regarding this matter. The demand is to bring all the hostages back."