Team From Gaza Mediator Egypt Heads To Israel: Source

Jerusalem, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Apr, 2024) A delegation from mediator Egypt was travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.

The effort comes alongside preparations for a military push against Hamas fighters in southern Gaza's Rafah, and with spillover from the Gaza war leading to stepped-up exchanges of fire over Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

Israel's army on Friday said missile fire near that border killed an Israeli civilian.

A Hamas official told AFP that any push into Rafah, where much of Gaza's population is sheltering, would threaten negotiations.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States have mediated truce and hostage-release talks, so far without success since a one-week halt to the fighting in November. That truce saw the exchange of 80 Israeli captives in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.