US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Cairo reportedly for a new round of talks on a possible prisoner swap, Al Jazeera reports.
Egypt, Qatar and the US have served as mediators between Israel and Hamas. About half the captives held in Gaza were released during a weeklong humanitarian pause in November, and mediators have tried since then to reach agreement on another round of exchanges accompanied by a halt in fighting, according to Al Jazeera.
However, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh said this week: “They will never recover their hostages unless all our prisoners in the occupation prisons are released.”