Hamas delegation including group’s chief Haniyeh in Cairo for talks

Senior Hamas officials including political leader Ismail Haniyeh and its former chief Khaled Meshaal arrived in Cairo on Thursday, a statement by the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip said.

The high-level Hamas delegation met with the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, and discussed the situation in Gaza, the statement added.

In a separate instance, the CIA and Mossad chiefs met with the Qatari prime minister in Doha on Thursday to discuss the parameters of a deal for hostage releases and a pause in Hamas-Israel fighting in the Gaza Strip, a source briefed on the meeting told Reuters.

The outcome of the talks was unclear.

Qatar, where several Hamas political leaders are based, has been leading efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israeli officials for the release of hostages taken by Hamas militants when they rampaged into Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people.

Israel then launched an unrelenting bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza and late last month launched an armored invasion of the enclave, where over 10,000 people have now been killed, 40 percent of them children, according to Palestinian officials.