Gaza negotiations.. Egyptian President calls for seizing the opportunity and Hamas rejects American "dictates"

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for "seizing the opportunity of the negotiations" underway regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with diplomatic activity in the region ahead of the resumption of negotiations in Cairo.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said during his reception of French Foreign Minister Stephane Le Foll that "the continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip is dragging the region into a vicious and dangerous cycle of instability."

Sigourney stressed the "need to combine all efforts to seize the opportunity of the ongoing negotiations and reach an agreement that stops the bloodshed and spares the region the consequences of escalation."

In turn, Al-Sisi pointed to "the responsibility of the international community with regard to pressure to reduce escalation, and address the roots of the conflict by establishing a Palestinian state and implementing the two-state solution."

According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, Sigourney indicated that President Emmanuel Macron had assigned him to conduct a regional tour to contribute to efforts to reduce tension and push towards calm.

The French Foreign Minister's visit to Egypt came before the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the region to overcome the latest differences in preparation for reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners and detainees.

This comes a day after Qatar, Egypt and the United States announced the end of the two-day Doha negotiations, with a new proposal presented to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel to reduce the gaps, and to hold a new round before the end of the week in Cairo.

Biden and Hamas

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that an agreement was now on the horizon, and was "much closer than it was three days ago," but he warned that "it's not over yet."

The channel spoke about another Israeli request, which is the presence of an inspection mechanism on the Netzarim axis, and confirmed that the Americans sent a clear message to Israel stating that they will not accept this condition, and that this option is not on the table for them.

The channel reported on clauses in the deal that it said the parties were close to agreeing on, including "the number of living kidnapped persons who will be released in the first batch," as well as the names of the Palestinian prisoners and how many of them Israel will have the right to object to being released, and how many of them will be deported outside the Palestinian territories.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies