Second Hamas official plays down Cairo talks, says ‘nothing new’ there

After similar reports in Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen, a Hamas official tells Reuters no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, shortly after Egyptian sources said headway had been made on the agenda.

“There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” the Hamas official, who asked not to be named, tells Reuters. “There is no progress yet.”

In Jerusalem over the weekend, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the Cairo talks as the closest the sides have come to a deal since a November truce under which Hamas freed dozens of hostages.

“We have reached a critical point in the negotiations. If it works out, then a large number of hostages will come home,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.