CAIRO: Egypt has proposed an initial two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israeli prisoners for some Palestinian prisoners, Egypt’s president said on Sunday.

Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made the announcement as efforts to defuse the devastating, more than year-long conflict resumed in Qatar with the directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency taking part.

Speaking alongside Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a press conference in Cairo, Sisi also said that talks should resume within 10 days of implementing the temporary ceasefire in efforts to reach a permanent one.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas but a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said: “I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza.”

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2024