Israeli delegation headed to Egypt for prisoner exchange talks with Palestinian factions

JERUSALEM

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday that a team will head to Cairo this weekend to continue talks on a prisoner exchange deal with Palestinian factions, Israel's public broadcaster reported without providing details.

There has been no comment from Egyptian and Qatari mediators or Hamas on resuming prisoner exchange negotiations, especially on the heels of the negative effect following the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran early Wednesday.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said Wednesday, referring to Haniyeh's assassination and the continued targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip by Israel.

“Peace needs serious partners and a global stance against the disregard for human life,” he wrote on X.

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza had hoped Netanyahu would announce his approval of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas during his address to the US Congress on July 24, but he did not, causing disappointment for the families and the opposition, who have been demanding Netanyahu's resignation for months, and early elections.

Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt have failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire that allows a prisoner swap between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Efforts by the three countries to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 115 Israeli hostages held by Palestinian factions in Gaza, while Hamas claims that more than 70 were killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes. Israel holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Witting by Mohammad Sio