International agencies indicate that the Israeli air strikes on civilian targets in Gaza and Rafah, where there are more than a million refugees from other parts of the Gaza Strip, occurred a few hours before the meeting scheduled for Monday in Cairo of the Qatari and Egyptian mediators with their representatives. Regarding the possibilities of signing a truce with Israel.
Reuters wrote, citing anonymous sources, that the proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement negotiated with the participation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States includes, among other things, the release of at least 40 hostages by Hamas, and the release of a number of Palestinians from Israeli prisons. A temporary cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. In the next stage, there is talk about Israel lifting the ban on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population, freedom of movement between the northern and southern areas of the Strip, and the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the White House announced another phone call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The American President continued his opposition to the attack announced by Israel on Rafah and demanded an increase in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. Biden and Netanyahu agreed that the responsibility for implementing peace proposals falls on Hamas. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to visit the Middle East on Monday.
The operation to calm Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip was in response to the attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 253 hostages. According to Palestinian sources, more than 34,000 people were killed as a result of the Israeli attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Civilians, most of whom are women and children. The hostilities forced more than 2.3 million Palestinians to flee.