Mediators said pushing for partial ceasefire deal, days-long humanitarian truce as talks founder

Mediators attempting to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza are reportedly pursuing alternative ways to halt hostilities, even if only temporarily, after talks in Cairo on Sunday ended without a breakthrough.

The Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports that a new proposal has been submitted that would see a partial agreement on the first phase of the ceasefire, while negotiations on the remaining aspects of a comprehensive deal would be conducted at a later stage.

In parallel, mediators are also working to reach a humanitarian truce ranging from four to seven days to distribute polio vaccines and other types of aid. Israel delivered vaccines for 1.255 million people via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday, days after a case of polio was identified in Gaza for the first time in 25 years.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF, the UN child welfare agency, have said that fighting in Gaza must pause for at least seven days to vaccinate some 640,000 children.

The Qatari paper further reports that the US administration is pressuring both Israel and Egypt to reopen the Rafah Border Crossing as early as possible, whether in the framework of a ceasefire-hostage release deal with Hamas, or following a phased withdrawal of the IDF forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.

The paper does not specify who would man the Rafah crossing on the Gazan side in the case of an Israeli withdrawal.