Hamas team heads to Cairo for ceasefire talks after Israeli visit to Egyptian spy chief: Report

A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo today to meet with senior Egyptian officials on efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal in Gaza, according to a report by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The newspaper reported that an Israeli delegation made a short visit to Cairo on Wednesday night to meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad, after Cairo presented a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza on Tuesday.

Hamas sources said the group is ready to release Israeli captives, explaining that the group did not reject the proposal of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, but rather accepted it on the condition that it included an immediate transition to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which includes ending the war.

However, Hamas was surprised by Witkoff's adoption of the same position as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks the release of all captives without implementing the requirements of the agreement.

According to the report, the Egyptian proposal represents a "bridge" for the differences and a middle ground between the proposal previously agreed to by Hamas, which called for the release of American-Israeli soldier Alexander Idan and the bodies of five prisoners, and the proposal put forward by Witkoff, which called for the release of half the living captives and half the captives' bodies.