Hamas confirms its delegation will visit Cairo on Saturday, official says

A delegation from the Palestinian militant group Hamas will visit Cairo on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters, amid expectations they will deliver a written response to an Israeli proposal on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

The Hamas official, who declined to be named, spoke on Friday after CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital for meetings on the Gaza conflict, according to an Egyptian security source and three sources in the Cairo airport.

Egypt made a new effort to revive negotiations late last month. Cairo is alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli ground operation against Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million people have taken shelter near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is also participating in the fight against Israel in Gaza, on Friday reiterated the demands of Palestinian resistance factions, which include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of all displaced people to their homes.

“There is complete and continuous coordination between all resistance factions, and there is consensus on the resistance’s demands,” the group added in the statement.

Citing a senior Egyptian source, state-run Al Qahera news TV also reported that the Egyptian government will host the Hamas delegation on Saturday to discuss developments in the truce negotiations in Gaza.

Mediators say they are awaiting Hamas’ response to the latest version of a proposal for a truce and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the freedom of many Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that triggered the conflict, according to Israeli records. The Israeli Army says more than 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat since then.

At least 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 77,000 have been injured by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip since October 7, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.