Egypt’s president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi , on Sunday announced his country has proposed a two-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas during which four hostages held in Gaza would be freed. Speaking in Cairo, EL-Sissi said the proposal also includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. According to the president the proposal aims to “move the situation forward,” adding that once the two-day cease-fire goes into effect, negotiations would continue to make it permanent. There hasn’t been a cease-fire in 11 months, since November’s weeklong pause in fighting in which 105 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, Israel’s Mossad chief was traveling to Doha on Sunday for talks with the prime minister of Qatar and the CIA chief. During a government memorial Sunday for the Hebrew anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “not every goal can be achieved through military operations.” He added that “painful compromises will be required” to return the hostages. Egypt’s proposal came a day after Israeli strikes on Iran in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month. Iran’s supreme leader said the attack “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation. It was Israel’s first open attack on its archenemy. That exchange of fire has raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant proxies, which include Hamas and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this month after nearly a year of lower-level conflict sparked by the war in Gaza.
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