Truce on knife edge as Israel refuses to join Cairo peace talks

Hamas refuses to provide a list of the 130 remaining hostages in Gaza, with Yahya Sinwar reportedly determined to escalate violence over Ramadan.

The families of hostages and their supporters march through Jerusalem on the fourth and final day of the 'United for the Release the Hostages' march. Picture: Getty Images.

Peace talks between Israel and Hamas are hovering on a knife edge after the militant group refused to provide Israel with a list of the 130 remaining hostages in Gaza – including more than 30 feared dead.

The Times of Israel reports that Israel won’t send a negotiating team to Cairo to discuss a proposed six week truce, despite a push to stop the fighting before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

According to Channel 12, the war cabinet agreed there was no point in sending a delegation to Egypt given Hamas’ intractability over the hostages and its demand that the Israeli armed forces entirely withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of people led by the families of hostages march into Jerusalem demanding their freedom. Picture: Getty Images.

According to the Times, the first phase of the proposed deal provides for the release of 40 of the living hostages during a six week truce, in exchange for 400 Palestinian security prisoners.

Complicating negotiations is the non-appearance of Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar who has not been in touch with negotiators for at least a week, and without whose say-so the deal may not be implemented.

Israeli media is reporing that Jerusalem believes Sinwar has no intention of reaching an agreement in the coming days and hopes to escalate violence over Ramadan.

Envoys from the United States, Qatar and Hamas have arrived in Cairo, Egyptian state-linked media reported Sunday.

A US official, speaking to reporters late Saturday, had said “there’s a framework deal” for a ceasefire which could start “today if Hamas agrees to release” elderly, women and ill hostages.

“The Israelis have more or less accepted it,” the administration official said. “Right now, the ball is in the camp of Hamas.”

A Hamas official said that, if Israel were to meet its demands, this would “pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours”.

Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, told Qatar’s Al-Araby TV that the group insisted on a complete, rather than “temporary”, ceasefire and on “ending the aggression against our people”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected pulling troops out of Gaza before Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are freed.

The Hamas official also said the group would demand “the entry of at least 400 to 500 trucks per day” carrying food, medicine and fuel as part of a truce deal.

Israel had yet to confirm that it has accepted the truce plan or whether it would attend the Cairo talks.

Netanyahu has faced mounting calls to secure the release of the hostages, from their desperate families and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.

At one rally, Eyal Kalderon, cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon, said there may not be “another chance” to bring him home.

“It’s now or maybe never.”

With AFP