1 of 3 Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Deir al-Balah, August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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CAIRO/WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo failed to reach an agreement on Sunday, with neither Hamas nor Israel agreeing to several compromises offered by mediators, two Egyptian security sources said, casting doubt on the success of the latest U.S.-backed effort to end the 10-month war.
But a senior US official said the talks were “constructive” and were conducted in the spirit of the two sides reaching a “final and workable agreement”.
“The process will continue through the working group over the next few days to further work out remaining issues and details,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the team would remain in Cairo.
Months of intermittent talks have failed to reach an agreement on ending Israel’s devastating military operation in the Gaza Strip or on the release of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a news conference in Halifax, Canada, that Washington was still working “diligently” in Cairo to reach a ceasefire and hostage agreement.
A key issue in the ongoing talks brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar includes the presence of Israeli troops in the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow 14.5-kilometer (9-mile) strip of land along the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip. The mediators have presented several alternatives to the Israeli military presence in the Philadelphia Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor across central Gaza, but the parties have not accepted any of them, Egyptian sources said.
Israel also expressed reservations about several Palestinian detainees whose release Hamas is demanding, and demanded that they leave Gaza if released, the sources added.
A senior U.S. official said there had been a lot of communication between Israeli, U.S. and Egyptian teams since Thursday to bridge remaining gaps in preparation for Saturday when Qatar and Egypt will meet with Hamas officials to work out the details of the proposal.
A senior U.S. official said Sunday that Israeli officials had engaged in talks to address outstanding issues with the help of a mediator, but gave no clear assessment of whether a breakthrough had been made.
Hamas said Israel had backed away from a promise to withdraw its forces from the corridor and had laid out new conditions, including testing displaced Palestinians as they return to the enclave’s densely populated north when the ceasefire begins.
“We will not accept any withdrawal of the July 2 agreement or any negotiations on new conditions,” Hamas leader Osama Hamdan told the group’s Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.
In July, Hamas accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement to end the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters.
A Hamas delegation left Cairo on Sunday after talks with mediators, the official, Izzat el-Reshik, said, adding that the group reiterated its demand that any agreement must stipulate a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
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Reporting by Steve Holland, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Ahmed Tolba, Nidal Al Mugrabi and Trevor Hunnicat in Halifax, Canada; Writing by Hatem Maher and Humeira Pamuk. Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sandra Muller.
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