Israeli intelligence chief arrives in Egypt to negotiate Gaza ceasefire

Israeli officials say the Mossad chief has arrived in Cairo, Egypt, to hold talks with his US counterpart on a proposed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

David Barnea, director of the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad), is scheduled to meet with US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns in the Egyptian capital Cairo, Israeli officials said on February 13.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who has brokered previous ceasefires in the Gaza Strip, will attend talks between the CIA and Mossad chiefs, according to Israeli officials.

US sources familiar with the matter confirmed on February 12 that the CIA director will travel to Cairo to negotiate a Qatari-brokered truce proposal, after Israel rejected a Hamas proposal last weekend.

Israeli soldiers fight in the Gaza Strip on February 11. Photo: IDF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its campaign against Hamas and sent troops into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have sought shelter.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, said on February 12 that the US "will not support an all-out military campaign" by Israel without a credible plan to ensure the safety of civilians in Rafah.

Miller’s comments came hours after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an operation to rescue two hostages in the city of Rafah. Heavy airstrikes in the IDF operation killed around 100 Palestinians in Rafah, according to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on February 11 that two hostages were killed and eight others were seriously injured in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The brigade warned that the condition of the wounded "is getting worse as we are unable to provide them with proper treatment."

According to the health authorities in the Gaza Strip, at least 28,340 people have been killed and 67,984 injured in the fighting, about 70% of whom are women or children. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the casualty reports from health authorities in the Gaza Strip to be reliable, and UN agencies often cite these figures.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP )

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