Hamas chief Haniyeh arrives in Cairo to continue Gaza truce talks
Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh is seen in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 13, 2024. (AFP Photo)


Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, arrived in Cairo Tuesday to continue Gaza truce talks with Egyptian officials.

His trip to the Egyptian capital comes just days after mediators said prospects for a new truce with Israel had dimmed.

The Qatar-based head of Hamas's political bureau will "hold discussions with Egyptian officials on the political situation and the situation in the field," the group said in a statement.

The delegation will also discuss "efforts to stop the aggression, provide relief to citizens and achieve the goals of our Palestinian people," it added.

Despite a flurry of meetings with both Israeli and Hamas negotiators last week, Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators made no headway in their efforts to pause more than four months of relentless fighting.

"The pattern in the last few days is not really very promising," Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

In an earlier statement Saturday, Haniyeh renewed Hamas' demands, even though some of them have been dismissed as "delusional" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The demands include a cease-fire, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an end to Israel's blockade of the territory and safe shelter for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to its unprecedented Oct. 7 incursion that resulted in the deaths of 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Its retaliatory offensive has killed over 29,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Health Ministry.