Egyptian and Qatari mediators were holding talks with Hamas in their latest effort to broker a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip
Egypt: Egyptian and Qatari mediators were holding talks with Hamas in their latest effort to broker a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, where health authorities said Monday that the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.
US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on such talks. “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” he posted on his Truth Social site on Monday.
Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavy populated areas after the ceasefire talks appeared to have broken down last month, raising the possibility of a worsening of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.
Those plans, which may in part be aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the Oct 7 attack that started the war. Hundreds of thousands took part in mass protests on Sunday calling for their return.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators are “exerting extensive efforts” to revive a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire.
He spoke during a visit to Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza, which has not functioned since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which has been largely sidelined since the war began.
Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s strong oppositon to any plans for the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, as called for by Israeli leaders who portray it as voluntary emigration. The Palestinians and much of the international community say such plans would amount to forcible expulsion because Israel’s air and ground war has left much of Gaza uninhabitable.
Abdelatty said Egypt “won’t take part, and won’t allow” any such plans, and called on other countries that have been in talks with Israel about resettling Palestinians “not to be involved in this heinous crime.
