Mediators meet in Cairo in effort to resolve gaps on Gaza truce proposal

Mediators meet in Cairo in effort to resolve gaps on Gaza truce proposal

Mediators meet in Cairo in effort to resolve gaps on Gaza truce proposal

CAIRO, Aug 22 (Reuters) – U.S. and Israeli delegations started a new round of meetings in Cairo on Thursday aimed at resolving differences over a truce proposal to end more than 10 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said.

Egyptian and U.S. officials had met to seek compromises over plans for providing security on the border between Egypt and Gaza following an Israeli military withdrawal demanded by Hamas, the sources said.

The proposals were due to be presented to Israeli officials later on Thursday, with a Qatari delegation due to join on Friday, they added.

Egypt along with the United States and Qatar has been a mediator in months of stop-start negotiations to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli demands to keep troops deployed along the Netzarim Corridor, which cuts across Gaza, as well as in a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor, have emerged as the most significant obstacles to a deal.

Egypt as well as Hamas want Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, where Israeli troops advanced in May. Israel says Hamas has used the area to bring arms into Gaza. Egypt says it has shut off smuggling routes.

The meetings in Cairo on Thursday and Friday follow a trip to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that failed to produce a breakthrough in negotiations.

The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen led an incursion into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s response, according to Palestinian health authorities.

In Gaza on Thursday, Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the coastal territory hours after U.S. President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency of completing a ceasefire deal.

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Reuters