Top Hamas officials met with Egyptian negotiators in Cairo, a meeting that did not include Israel or the United States, although an Egyptian official told CNN that Israel has been invited to meet with negotiators on Monday.
"The delegation began meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss Hamas' vision for a cease-fire and an end to the war and a prisoner exchange based on a comprehensive deal," Hamas said in a written statement.
CNN reported that an Israeli source said that "Israel only reacts to offers passed on by the mediators." Although the negotiation has been mediated by officials from Qatar, Egypt also has been trying to broker a deal along with the United States.
Before the meeting, Hamas said it planned to discuss "the impact of Israel's starvation policy in Gaza and stress the urgent need to deliver humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to the territory."
The Hamas-run Health Ministry has said that more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 117,000 injured in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200, which started the war.
The delegation was led by Muhammad Darwish, chairman of the Hamas Leadership Council, and included other top leaders, Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin and Nizar Awadallah.
On March 29, Hamas' leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said the terrorist group agreed to release five hostages, including the American-Israeli Edan Alexander, as part of a 50-day cease-fire proposal from Egypt and Qatar during Ramadan.
Israel "conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the U.S.," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that day.
Earlier this month, Israel's six-week ceasefire proposal called for the disarmament of Gaza without guaranteeing an end to the war. Hamas has not agreed to either of those.
"We will not accept partial deals that serve Netanyahu's political agenda. Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners [hostages]," Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement.
President Donald Trump has been pushing to end the war.
"We've got to be good to Gaza," Trump said Friday while flying to Italy for Prince Francis' funeral. "There's a very big need for medicine, food and medicine. We're taking care of it."
Trump, who has been a strong supporter of Israel, gave no details about humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Netanyahu has defended the blockade of humanitarian aid as part of a pressure campaign against Hamas. Israel also wants the return of the remaining 59 hostages. Just 24 of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive.
After a first 41-day cease-fire ended on March 1, including the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, Israel later resumed airstrikes in Gaza.
Israel said that in the past 48 hours 120 targets have been hit.
Since March 18 when the war resumed, Israel Defense Forces estimates that it has killed more than 400 members of terror groups, including senior Hamas political officials and mid-level military wing commanders.
A total of 2,111 Palestinians have died since the end of the cease-fire, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 13 Palestinians died since dawn Saturday and dozens others were buried under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air attack on Gaza City. At least four people were killed in a strike on a home in the city's Sabra neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reported.
As cease-fire talks stall, the IDF said it is preparing to significantly expand its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, noting that it will call up a large number of reservists and go into new areas of Gaza.
An IDF soldier and a police officer were killed during fighting in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood on Friday afternoon, the military and police announced.
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