Egypt sends delegation to Israel, its latest effort to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas

CAIRO — Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel on Friday with the hope of brokering a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in Gaza, two officials said. At the same time, it warned that a possible Israeli offensive focused on Gaza’s city of Rafah — on the border with Egypt — could have catastrophic consequences for regional stability.

Egypt’s top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, is leading the delegation and plans to discuss with Israel a “new vision” for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, an Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the mission freely.

As the war drags on and casualties mount, there has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease-fire.

Friday’s talks will focus at first on a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas terrorists for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimum restrictions,” the Egyptian official said.

The hope is that negotiations will then continue, with the goal of a larger deal to end the war, he said.

The official said mediators are working on a compromise that will answer most of both parties’ main demands.

Hamas has said it will not back down from its demands for a permanent cease-fire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops, both of which Israel has rejected. Israel says it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and that it will retain a security presence in Gaza afterward.

Ahead of the talks, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told The Associated Press “there is nothing new from our side,” when asked about the negotiations.

Both Israeli and Egyptian officials confirmed the Egyptian delegation had arrived in Tel Aviv, but further details weren’t immediately available.

On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi cautioned that an Israeli attack on Rafah would have “catastrophic consequences on the humanitarian situation in the strip, as well as the regional peace and security.”

El-Sissi’s comments came in a phone call with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands, the Egyptian leader’s office said.

Egypt has also said an attack on Rafah would violate the decades-old peace deal between Egypt and Israel.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas raid into southern Israel, in which terrorists killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 people as hostages. Israel says the terrorists are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

Israel has reported at least 260 of its soldiers killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza.