An official Egyptian source announced today (Sunday) intensive Egyptian-Qatari-American contacts to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian satellite channel Cairo News quoted the source as confirming that Egypt, Qatar and the United States are conducting intensive contacts to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.

He added that Egypt expresses its appreciation for the Qatari efforts made to implement the second phase of the humanitarian truce, explaining that the Egyptian-Qatari coordination and efforts succeeded in completing the detainee exchange process and continuing the humanitarian truce.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian factions, with Egyptian, Qatari and American mediation, succeeded in reaching a humanitarian truce agreement in Gaza, which stipulates a ceasefire in the Strip for a period of four days that began last Friday, in exchange for the release of 50 detainees held by the factions, and the release of 150 women and children. Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and increasing humanitarian aid to the Strip.

In a related context, Qatari Minister of State for International Cooperation Lulwah Al Khater will visit the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing today, with Egyptian coordination.

Cairo News Channel reported that Nevin Al-Qabbaj, Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity and Vice President of the Egyptian Red Crescent, received the Qatari minister, earlier, regarding coordination to prepare and deliver Qatari relief supplies and aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, through the Egyptian Red Crescent.

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday evening (Saturday) that the Red Cross had received 13 holders of Israeli citizenship and four foreigners as part of the second phase of the truce agreement and the exchange of detainees between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, after a delay that lasted hours.

A temporary humanitarian truce, mediated by Qatari-Egyptian mediation, entered into force on Friday in the Gaza Strip at seven in the morning local time, and will continue for four days. It includes a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which completed on Friday the first prisoner exchange since the war began on October 7th. .

Since October 7, Israel has launched a large-scale military operation against the Hamas movement in Gaza under the name “Iron Swords,” during which more than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, according to authorities in the Strip, after the Palestinian movement launched an unprecedented attack it called “Al-Aqsa Flood” on Israel, it claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli authorities.