Hamas to respond to Gaza truce offer: Egyptian media

CAIRO

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas left Egypt on Monday after talks on a possible truce in Gaza and will return with a written response, according to Egyptian media.

Representatives of the group headed home after holding talks in Egypt's capital Cairo on a cease-fire proposal presented by mediators, sources quoted by Egypt's Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel said, without providing further details.

Egypt confirmed Monday that there is a new proposal for a truce in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

"There is a proposal on the table to reach a truce in Gaza,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said during a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.

Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have taken place in both Cairo and Doha aimed at reaching a deal that includes a prisoner swap, under which Israeli captives would be released in exchange for the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails.

Tel Aviv believes that over 130 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding around 9,100 Palestinians in its prisons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday at the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital Riyadh that Israel gave Hamas a "generous" offer to release the Israeli captives, which could potentially lead to a cease-fire in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden held separate calls with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt to discuss the latest developments in negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza.

Biden urged Qatar and Egypt to exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, "as this is now the only obstacle to an immediate cease-fire and relief for the people of Gaza," the White House said.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 77,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.