Hamas delegation heads to Cairo to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators

A Hamas source has told news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) that a delegation is heading to Cairo to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators, after Israeli negotiators held talks with the mediators on February 13, Report informs referring to The Guardian.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war, was also due in Cairo on February 14 for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, says AFP.

CIA director William Burns had joined Tuesday’s talks with David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, which Egyptian media said had been mostly “positive”. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby described the negotiations as “constructive and moving in the right direction”.

Mediators are racing to secure a pause to the fighting before Israel proceeds with a full-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip’s far-southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians are trapped.

The potential for mass civilian casualties has triggered urgent appeals, even from close allies, for Israel to hold off sending troops into the last large population center they have yet to enter in the four-month war.

Key ally the US has said it will not back any ground operation in Rafah without a “credible plan” for protecting civilians.

Rafah is the main entry point for desperately needed relief supplies and UN agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster if an assault goes ahead. Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said any military operation “could lead to a slaughter.”