An Egyptian delegation met Israeli counterparts on Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the war in Gaza and return the remaining Israeli hostages, an official briefed on the meetings said.
A person attends a protest as people call for the immediate release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel April 25, 2024.
There was no decision on how long any truce would last but if such an exchange were agreed, the pause in fighting would be "definitely less than six weeks", the official said. Citing two Israeli officials, Axios reported that Israeli officials told their Egyptian counterparts on Friday that Israel is ready to give hostage negotiations "one last chance" to reach a deal with Hamas before moving forward with an invasion of Rafah, the last refuge for around a million Palestinians who fled Israeli forces further north in Gaza earlier in the war.
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticised the Egyptian proposal on X, calling it "a dangerous Israeli capitulation and a terrible victory for Hamas". Egypt, concerned about a potential influx of Palestinian refugees from neighbouring Gaza if the war continues with the long-promised Israeli offensive into the southern city of Rafah, has taken an increasingly
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