Despite hours of talks, no signs of progress in Gaza cease-fire

CAIRO,  Egypt 

Gaza cease-fire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, but there was no indication of progress after hours of talks.

"The talks in Cairo didn't make any progress. Israel is insisting to keep eight positions along the Philadelphi corridor," one Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The Cairo talks came as the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated, with malnutrition soaring and polio discovered in the Palestinian enclave.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to be nearer at hand to review any proposals that emerged in the main talks between Israel and mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States, two Egyptian security sources said.

A U.S. official said negotiators from the United States met with Egypt, then with Egypt and Qatar on Saturday, and believed that representatives from Egypt and Qatar were meeting with Hamas.

The Hamas delegation returned to Doha, Qatar, after the briefing on the round of talks ended, the Palestinian official said.

Months of on-off talks have failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the militant group's October 7 attack that triggered the war. 

That attack killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's Gaza campaign has killed more than 40,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say.

The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to north Gaza.

However, there was no sign of any breakthrough on key sticking points, including Israel's insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Hamas has accused Israel of going back on things it had previously agreed to in the talks, which Israel denies. The group says the United States is not mediating in good faith.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli cease-fire negotiators over whether Israeli troops must remain all along the border between Gaza and Egypt, a person with knowledge of the talks said.