Israel awaits Hamas on agreement before sending delegation to Cairo

But so far there has been little sign of agreement on the most fundamental difference between the two sides, Hamas’ demand that any deal must guarantee the withdrawal of Israeli troops and a permanent end to the military operation in Gaza.

“We cannot tell our people that the occupation will remain or that the fighting will resume after Israel recovers its prisoners,” said a Palestinian official from a group allied with Hamas. “Our people want this aggression to end.”

For Netanyahu, any move is likely to be affected by divisions in his own cabinet between ministers pushing to bring back at least some of the 133 Israeli hostages in Gaza and more hardline ones insisting on a long-promised attack on the remaining Hamas forces in the city. of Rafah, in the south of the enclave.

An incursion into Rafah will happen “with or without a deal”, Netanyahu said on Tuesday, adding that ending the war before achieving its objectives is “out of the question”.

However, Israeli officials say the Rafah operation could be delayed if Hamas accepts the deal offered – which does not include a definitive ceasefire, but the return of 33 vulnerable hostages in exchange for a much larger number of Palestinian prisoners and a limited break in fighting.

“As far as Israel is concerned, this is the last chance to prevent a sweep into Rafah. The IDF (Israeli forces) have already started mobilizing troops for this operation,” said a second Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to sensitive nature of negotiations.