Israeli delegation joins talks in Cairo to salvage Gaza cease-fire deal

The prime minister’s office said the Israeli delegation that landed in Egypt’s capital Thursday includes David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, and top general Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.

The talks on the proposed cease-fire and hostage release deal — mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — seek to narrow the remaining differences between Israel and Hamas.

Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was among the officials leading the American delegation, a U.S. official said.

A crucial sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has long rejected continued Israeli control of the area and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in a surprise attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not say how many were terrorists or civilians.

The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the terrorists fight in dense, residential areas.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said in social media posting that he made clear to Netanyahu “that we must bring the cease-fire and hostage release deal to closure.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn’t giving up on the Biden administration’s push to broker a Gaza cease-fire agreement, making several calls to foreign leaders to underscore the urgency of a deal just hours after wrapping up his latest Middle East peace mission.

The State Department said Thursday that Blinken had spoken by phone with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to emphasize the importance of a U.S. proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas that could lead to a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Blinken “underscored that the bridging proposal presented by negotiators addresses the remaining gaps in a manner that allows for swift implementation of the deal,” the State Department said in a statement about the call that happened on Wednesday. Blinken had been scheduled to meet the emir in person in Qatar late Tuesday but was unable to see him in person because he was ill.

On Monday and Tuesday, Blinken met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in El Alamein to make similar points.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities say they have arrested four Israelis, including a minor, who are suspected of taking part in a rampage through a West Bank village earlier this month that killed a Palestinian and wounded several others.

Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, roundly condemned the deadly rampage immediately after it happened. On Thursday, the Israeli military referred to the Aug. 15 riot in the village of Jit in the northern West Bank as a “severe terror event.”