The government of Egypt has proposed an immediate, two-day cease-fire in Gaza to make room for the exchange of four Israeli hostages from Hamas with Palestinian prisoners. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that on Sunday. This appeal for the ceasefire is raised amid hostilities intensifying after having witnessed that strikes launched by Israel had killed at least 45 Palestinians.

Egyptian President Sisi announced the development during a Cairo press conference with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The new rounds of diplomacy are taking place in Qatar, where CIA and Mossad heads have entered negotiations to end the over-a-year-long conflict. According to Sisi, broader peace talks should resume 10 days after the start of a temporary ceasefire so that the dispute may finally be resolved shortly.

While officials from neither Israel nor Hamas have commented on the suggestion, an official privy to Palestinian negotiations with Reuters said that while Hamas could consider the offer, they have confirmed that any deal should ensure a cessation of hostilities and Israeli troops’ withdrawal from Gaza.

The United States, Qatar, and Egypt are currently leading the efforts to cease the ongoing hostilities. The war moved to new heights after a significant Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year killed over 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 people hostage. From then to date, its air and ground attacks on Gaza have left the health officials on-site reporting almost 43,000 deaths there, primarily civilians, and over 100,000 injured. The past nearly three weeks have witnessed the siege against Gaza, its historic high level of massive displacement, and shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, among other essential supplies.

What they are looking to get now is a short-term halt in hostilities, maybe a way to start an exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel,” said an official briefed on the Qatar talks. The theory is that this temporary stoppage could one day evolve into a lasting ceasefire. Israeli officials say that this war will never cease until Hamas is entirely disarmed as a military and political force.

Let it be noted that northern Gaza is now criticised for the international outcry for several days following because the war still burns in this region. “I am shocked by what I have seen: destruction, civilians buried under rubble, families separated from each other, and massive shortages of food and health care,” stated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. According to Israel, Tuesday’s actions involved concentrated strikes against Hamas militants by targeting reported sites at Jabalia refugee camp, alongside a school in the Shati camp, as thousands of people fled further to the south.