Hamas meets with Gaza truce mediators

CAIRO, Oct 20 (AFP): A Hamas delegation was to meet Qatari and Egyptian officials in Cairo on Monday to discuss the continuation of a fragile Gaza ceasefire, a source close to negotiations told AFP.

The Israeli military struck dozens of Hamas positions across Gaza on Sunday after the militants killed two of its soldiers and Israel accused the group of "a blatant violation" of the truce.

Hamas denied any knowledge of an attack and in turn asserted Israel had broken the ceasefire deal in place since 10 October.

The source said that the delegation, headed by Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, would discuss "the dozens of airstrikes that killed dozens in the Gaza Strip" on Sunday.

Egypt and Qatar have long played a mediating role in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, aiming to bring about an end to the war sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Hamas' delegation will also meet Egyptian officials to discuss an upcoming intra-Palestinian dialogue hosted by Egypt and aiming "to unify the Palestinian factions," the source told AFP.

Egypt has hosted several such meetings between Palestinian factions, notably including the two main rival political movements, Islamist movement Hamas and Fatah, whose leader Mahmud Abbas is also president of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas and Fatah have been opposed for decades, all the more so since the former's violent ousting of the latter from the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The top US envoys to the Middle East conflict arrived in Israel on Monday to inspect progress on the Gaza plan after weekend violence threatened to wreck the hard-won ceasefire.

Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing in to Gaza for aid shipments, a security official and a humanitarian source said, after it was closed briefly on Sunday following the killing of two Israeli soldiers.

In response, Israel carried out dozens of strikes targeting Hamas across Gaza, accusing the militant group of carrying out "a blatant violation" of the truce.

But both sides insisted that they remained committed to the ceasefire and US President Donald Trump, who helped broker the deal, told reporters in Washington that as far as he was concerned, it was still in effect.

"We want to make sure that it's going to be very peaceful with Hamas," Trump told reporters. "It's going to be handled toughly, but properly."

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Israel on Monday for further talks on the plan, a US embassy spokesperson confirmed to AFP.

Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people across the territory on Sunday alone.

Four hospitals in Gaza confirmed the death toll to AFP, while Israel's military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The army said that, after carrying out air strikes in response to a deadly attack on its soldiers, it had "renewed enforcement of the ceasefire" late Sunday but vowed to "respond firmly to any violation of it".