The Hamas delegation ended its discussions with Egyptian intelligence in Cairo and reached a series of conclusions on the issue of calm and the Gaza prisoner exchange deal. Egyptian officials said a new formula had been set out that could lead to progress on the prisoner exchange deal, awaiting Israel's response.
Hamas officially announced the end of its delegation talks in Cairo, these top-level talks, included all the Hamas leadership elected in recent months. They met with Egyptian intelligence chief General Abbas Kamel and his aides for a series of discussions on issues such as Hamas in Egypt, Egypt's economic aid to the Gaza Strip, the lull on the Gaza border with Israel, the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip from the damage of the last war and, of course, the issue of the prisoner exchange deal.
On the sidelines, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya met separately with Padwa Barghouti, the wife of Fatah official Marwan Barghouti, who was sentenced to five life terms for murdering Israelis, and with the daughter of Fouad Alshubchi, a senior PA official responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran to the Gaza Strip. He promised them to release their loved ones as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Israel.
Senior Hamas official Muhammad Nazal said that Marwan Barghouti's name was at the top of the list of demands in the list of prisoners that Hamas provided to Egyptian intelligence. Hamas seems to be making a big effort to embarrass PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, by placing his bitter political rival Marwan Barghouti at the top of the list of terrorists to be released.
Senior officials in Jerusalem say that Israel will not release Marwan Barghouti from prison as he is the terrorist symbol of the second intifada. His release will weaken the PA chairman, and according to them, the Biden government also opposes Barghouti's release.
Egyptian effort to achieve a breakthrough
Egypt has made a great effort to achieve a breakthrough in Cairo talks with the Hamas leadership, so Egyptian intelligence invited the entire Hamas political bureau to Cairo for talks, according to Egyptian sources. The senior Israeli officials opposed Hamas' positions, and discussions with the Hamas delegation resumed.
It is important for President al-Sisi to achieve a breakthrough in an effort to please President Biden. Ahead of their meeting at the White House, the Egyptian president wants to prove that Egypt is a positive force working to achieve calm in the Middle East.
During the discussions with the Hamas delegation in Cairo, the Egyptian intelligence chief also examined the possibility of a meeting in Cairo between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya to reach an agreement on the formation of a Palestinian unity government. And replace the faltering government of Muhammad a-Shtiya.
During the discussions, an economic delegation of businessmen from the Gaza Strip also arrived in Cairo for discussions with Egyptian economic teams, the Hamas delegation managed to reach an agreement on funding by Egyptian authorities earmarked for damages to the Gaza strip during the war.
Progress in contacts for a prisoner exchange deal
According to Egyptian sources, as part of the discussions on the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, Israel demanded that the cease-fire also include the West Bank in light of the exposure of Hamas' terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank, which has planned kidnappings of Israelis to speed up the prisoner exchange deal and increase bargaining power.
The Al-Arabi Al-Jadid newspaper reported on October 10 from Egyptian sources that the Hamas delegation had demanded in talks the improvement of the conditions of incarceration of security prisoners in Israeli prisons.
According to the report, progress has been made in talks on the prisoner exchange deal, a new formula has been formulated to reduce the number of security prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and "their hands are covered in blood" in Hamas' list of Egyptian intelligence. We are now awaiting Israel's response to this formula.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported from Hamas sources that a new German mediator entered into the mediation operation between Israel and Hamas on a prisoner exchange deal in parallel with Chancellor Merkel's visit to Israel and succeeded in advancing the negotiations.
The Hamas leadership disbanded and its leaders returned from Cairo to Turkey, Lebanon, Qatar, and the Gaza Strip. The Egyptians so that they can present achievement to the Biden administration.