 "Israel has previously said in the open that should Hamas withdraw from the peace talks in Cairo, there will be an Israeli ground offensive in the Rafah region of the Gaza Strip Image Courtesy AP")
With the help of mediators from Egypt and Qatar, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are moving forward in Cairo.
On Tuesday, the talks that started on Monday are still going on. The Israeli Defense Ministry officials said that the conversations are moving in a constructive direction. There is a good chance of a six-week truce after Israel lowered the number of hostages to be freed from 40 to 33.
About 600 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails are to be released, according to demands made by the Hamas side. Several Palestinian detainees whose names appear on the list of detainees provided by Hamas are accused of grave crimes, such as murder.
Israel has previously said in the open that should Hamas withdraw from the peace talks in Cairo, there will be an Israeli ground offensive in the Rafah region of the Gaza Strip.
There are about 1.3 million Palestinians living in the Rafah region. El Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt, had voiced his worries about an Israeli military operation in Rafah and the potential for a large-scale refugee migration to the Sinai region, which borders Rafah.
During his recent visit to Israel, Major General Abbas Kamel, the chief of Egyptian intelligence, voiced concerns regarding a Rafah operation.
In the meantime, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is supervising the mediation negotiations between Israel and Hamas while on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia.