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E-mail Xinhua, July 10, 2024
CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered its second day in Cairo on Tuesday, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported.
"The negotiations continue amid the Egyptian security delegation's intensive work on the convergence of views among all parties," the report said, citing a high-level source.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns took part in the negotiations, the report noted, without detailing further.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that before the ceasefire talks, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Burns to discuss joint ceasefire efforts.
The two sides also touched on coordination for regional security issues in their meeting, during which Sisi reiterated Egypt's firm rejection of the war on Gaza and the call for prompt steps to prevent regional spillover.
On Monday, Burns and an Israeli negotiating team headed by Ronen Bar, the chief of the Shin Bet security service, landed in Cairo for this new round of Gaza truce talks.
Israeli state-owned Kan TV reported on Monday that Bar was scheduled to discuss with the Egyptian side a range of issues, including the means to prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas from Egypt to Gaza.
Since the Gaza conflict broke out in October 2023, Egypt has been working to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza-ruling Hamas, along with mediators from the United States and Qatar.
The indirect talks will continue in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. An Egyptian security delegation would travel there to bring Hamas and Israel's views closer toward a truce as soon as possible, said the Al-Qahera report, adding the negotiations will be back in Cairo on Thursday.
Israeli media earlier reported that following his Cairo visit, Bar would fly to Qatar to meet with negotiators on a ceasefire in the Gaza war that has entered its tenth month and secure the release of about 120 hostages still held in Gaza, some of them feared dead. Enditem
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