Gaza mediators meet in Cairo to progress fragile ceasefire
Delegations from the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey met to discuss disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force of foreign troops to the Gaza Strip.
Gaza mediators from the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have met in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the Trump administration’s ceasefire deal, Egyptian state-linked media reported.
Al-Qahera News, which has ties to Egyptian intelligence, said the meeting included the Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs alongside the prime minister of Qatar.
The delegates discussed working with the US “to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas, the channel reported.
Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US act as both mediators and guarantors for the Gaza deal, which came into effect on October 10 after two years of war.
Their meeting in Cairo came two days after a senior Hamas delegation met with Egyptian spy chief Hassan Rashad to discuss the second phase of the truce.
That phase concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force of foreign troops to the Gaza Strip.
According to Al-Qahera News, Tuesday’s meeting addressed “overcoming obstacles and limiting violations to ensure the ceasefire holds”.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, Israeli fire has killed more than 300 Palestinians since the truce took hold.
The mediators on Tuesday also “agreed to continue strengthening co-ordination and cooperation with the Civil-Military Coordination Centre” — the truce monitoring centre set up by the US and its allies in southern Israel.
The meeting came as the apparent remains of another dead hostage was handed to the IDF, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
“Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a fallen hostage, which was handed over to an IDF and ISA force inside the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, referring to the Israeli military and the security service.
The coffin, received inside the Gaza Strip, will be transferred to Israel for identification of the remains. If the remains are confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that the bodies of two deceased hostages remain in Gaza.
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