Cairo steps up efforts for Gaza cease-fire in light of new US proposal: Reports

CAIRO

Egypt is stepping up efforts to secure a cease-fire deal in Gaza in light of Washington's new proposal, said an Egyptian source on Saturday.

Egyptian news channel Al Qahera quoted a high-ranking source as saying that “there are intense Egyptian efforts to return to negotiations over the Gaza Strip in light of the recent American proposal.”

“An Egyptian-American-Israeli meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday) in Cairo to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing with Egypt, with then insistence on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the area,” the source said.

There has been no confirmation on the meeting from either side.

"Egypt has reaffirmed to all parties its steadfast and consistent position not to open the Rafah crossing as long as Israel maintains control over the Palestinian side," the source stressed.

Israel has kept the Rafah crossing closed for 26 days, sparking fears of a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation due to a lack of essential supplies reaching Palestinians, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Israel presented the Palestinian resistance group Hamas with a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in the besieged Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave.

Biden appealed to Hamas to accept the deal and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stave off pressure from members of his governing coalition opposed to the plan.

Over 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its onslaught nearly eight months ago. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with more than 82,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi