Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has proposed a two-day truce in Gaza that would potentially pave the way for a long-term ceasefire, as Israel’s genocide has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the northern areas of the Strip in less than a month.
El-Sisi’s proposal, which includes exchanging four Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, came as thousands of trapped civilians endure relentless Israeli attacks that have killed at least 50 people, including five journalists, since Sunday.
At a news conference in Cairo on Sunday, el-Sisi said the 48-hour lull in fighting and prisoner exchange would be followed by more talks in the next 10 days, with the hope that negotiators could hammer out a peace deal.
Out of 251 captives seized by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack inside the Israeli territory, 97 are believed to be still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military claims are dead. More than 100 captives were released during a weeklong truce last November.
El-Sisi did not say whether the plan had been formally presented to either Israel or Hamas. But efforts to defuse the conflict have resumed in the Qatari capital of Doha with the directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad taking part.
There was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas on the plan.Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, has for months been mediating indirect talks with little success. Among the key issues preventing a breakthrough has been Hamas’s insistence that Israel withdraw completely from Gaza, which Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected.