More talks planned

FE Team | Published: February 08, 2024 21:57:43

Displaced Palestinians react near their tents following an Israeli strike on a car in Rafah on Wednesday — Reuters

GAZA, Feb 08 (Reuters/AFP): Mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt scrambled to forge a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in their four-month-old war in the Gaza Strip after America's top diplomat on a Middle East mission said there was still hope for a deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw room for negotiation, and a Palestinian Hamas delegation led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya was due to travel on Thursday to Cairo for ceasefire talks with Egypt and Qatar.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' latest offer, calling it "delusional," and Hamas urged Palestinian armed factions to go on fighting.
"There are clearly nonstarters in what (Hamas has) put forward," Blinken said on Wednesday at a late-night press conference in a Tel Aviv hotel, without specifying what the nonstarters were.
"But we also see space in what came back to pursue negotiations, to see if we can get to an agreement. That's what we intend to do."
Before heading back to the US, Blinken was due to hold meetings in Israel on Thursday, including with family members of hostages still held in Gaza who have clamoured for Netanyahu to make winning their freedom his top priority.
Blinken pushes for hostage deal with Israeli cabinet
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday discussed ways to secure the release of Gaza hostages with moderates in the Israeli war cabinet a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas demands.