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New Opportunity for Gaza Truce with Egyptian ‘Compromise’ Proposal

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty meets with a delegation from the Palestinian Fatah movement in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty meets with a delegation from the Palestinian Fatah movement in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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New Opportunity for Gaza Truce with Egyptian ‘Compromise’ Proposal

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty meets with a delegation from the Palestinian Fatah movement in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty meets with a delegation from the Palestinian Fatah movement in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt has come forward with a new proposal to the stalled ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, offering a potential path to de-escalation as Israel’s military campaign intensifies for a third consecutive week following the collapse of the previous truce.

This marks Egypt’s fourth ceasefire initiative in under a month. According to Israeli media, the new proposal aims to "bridge the gaps" between previous plans—Egyptian, American, and Israeli—that failed to gain consensus.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat the effort may offer a renewed opportunity for calm ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday, which begins on April 20, especially in light of an upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where Washington may exert pressure for a compromise.

On Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held talks with a high-level Palestinian delegation from Fatah, headed by Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub. The meeting, which included National Council head Rawhi Fattouh and former Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, focused on "the dangerous Israeli escalation and Egypt’s efforts to restore a ceasefire and expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid," according to a statement from Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.

While Abdelatty did not disclose details of the latest proposal, Israel’s public broadcaster reported on Friday that Egypt had submitted a new plan aimed at resolving disputes over the ceasefire and prisoner exchange. The proposal reportedly lies somewhere between previous terms—namely, the release of five live Israeli captives proposed by mediators, and Israel’s demand for the return of 11 hostages alive from Gaza.

Negotiations to reinstate the truce, which collapsed on March 18 after nearly two months, have floundered in recent weeks. Among the key proposals was a US plan floated by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on March 13, which sought a ceasefire lasting until April 20 and included the release of 10 hostages. Hamas, however, only agreed to release dual national Idan Alexander.

Days later, Egypt proposed that Hamas release five live hostages, including one American-Israeli citizen, in exchange for Israel permitting humanitarian aid into Gaza, a week-long pause in fighting, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners—according to the Associated Press.

On March 29, Israel presented its own revised plan, coordinated with the US, offering a 40-to-50-day truce in exchange for the return of roughly half of the 24 hostages believed to still be alive, and the remains of about half of the 35 believed dead.

Dr. Ahmed Fouad Anwar, a member of Egypt’s Council for Foreign Affairs and an expert on Israeli affairs, described Egypt’s latest initiative as "a new chance to bridge gaps and revive talks." He added that the plan may offer a "middle ground that could satisfy both parties," but its success hinges on American pressure on Israel.

Palestinian political analyst Dr. Husam al-Dajani echoed this view, describing the proposal as a step toward ending the crisis. "Any plan that halts the genocide will be accepted by the Palestinian resistance," he said, though he warned that Netanyahu remains the main obstacle. "Ending the war is not his priority, and he may stall or set new conditions."

Three Israeli officials told Axios on Saturday that Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House on Monday to meet with Trump. The president had hinted days earlier that Netanyahu would soon visit Washington and reiterated his commitment to resolving "the Gaza problem," following talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last week.

On Saturday, Sisi also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, stressing the "urgent need to restore calm through an immediate ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian aid delivery," according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

Meanwhile, Witkoff is set to travel to the region this week. According to Axios, he is scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who leads Israel’s negotiation team. Witkoff may also visit Doha or Cairo, depending on developments in the talks over a Gaza deal.

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Arab World

Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
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Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited heavily damaged towns near the Israeli border on Saturday, pledging reconstruction.

It was his first trip to the southern border area since the army said it finished disarming Hezbollah there, in January.

Swathes of south Lebanon's border areas remain in ruins and largely deserted more than a year after a US-brokered November 2024 ceasefire sought to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of its plan to do so, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometers (20 miles) further south.

Visiting Tayr Harfa, around three kilometers from the border, and nearby Yarine, Salam said frontier towns and villages had suffered "a true catastrophe".

He vowed authorities would begin key projects including restoring roads, communications networks and water in the two towns.

Locals gathered on the rubble of buildings to greet Salam and the delegation of accompanying officials in nearby Dhayra, some waving Lebanese flags.

In a meeting in Bint Jbeil, further east, with officials including lawmakers from Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, Salam said authorities would "rehabilitate 32 kilometers of roads, reconnect the severed communications network, repair water infrastructure" and power lines in the district.

Last year, the World Bank announced it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction, after estimating that it would cost around $11 billion in total.

Salam said funds including from the World Bank would be used for the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

The second phase of the government's disarmament plan for Hezbollah concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around 40 kilometers south of Beirut.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Despite the truce, Israel has kept up regular strikes on what it usually says are Hezbollah targets and maintains troops in five south Lebanon areas.

Lebanese officials have accused Israel of seeking to prevent reconstruction in the heavily damaged south with repeated strikes on bulldozers, excavators and prefabricated houses.

Visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday said the reform of Lebanon's banking system needed to precede international funding for reconstruction efforts.

The French diplomat met Lebanon's army chief Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday, the military said.

Arab World

Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Iraq has so far received 2,225 ISIS group detainees, whom the US military began transferring from Syria last month, an Iraqi official told AFP on Saturday.

They are among up to 7,000 ISIS detainees whose transfer from Syria to Iraq the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced last month, in a move it said was aimed at "ensuring that the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities".

Previously, they had been held in prisons and camps administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria.

The announcement of the transfer plan last month came after US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack declared that the SDF's role in confronting ISIS had come to an end.

Saad Maan, head of the security information cell attached to the Iraqi prime minister's office, told AFP on Saturday that "Iraq has received 2,225 terrorists from the Syrian side by land and air, in coordination with the international coalition", which Washington has led since 2014 to fight IS.

He said they are being held in "strict, regular detention centers".

A Kurdish military source confirmed to AFP the "continued transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq under the protection of the international coalition".

On Saturday, an AFP photographer near the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria saw a US military convoy and 11 buses with tinted windows.

- Iraq calls for repatriation -

ISIS seized swathes of northern and western Iraq starting in 2014, until Iraqi forces, backed by the international coalition, managed to defeat it in 2017.

Iraq is still recovering from the severe abuses committed by the extremists.

In recent years, Iraqi courts have issued death and life sentences against those convicted of terrorism offences.

Thousands of Iraqis and foreign nationals convicted of membership in the group are incarcerated in Iraqi prisons.

On Monday, the Iraqi judiciary announced it had begun investigative procedures involving 1,387 detainees it received as part of the US military's operation.

In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency on Saturday, Maan said "the established principle is to try all those involved in crimes against Iraqis and those belonging to the terrorist ISIS organization before the competent Iraqi courts".

Among the detainees being transferred to Iraq are Syrians, Iraqis, Europeans and holders of other nationalities, according to Iraqi security sources.

Iraq is calling on the concerned countries to repatriate their citizens and ensure their prosecution.

Maan noted that "the process of handing over the terrorists to their countries will begin once the legal requirements are completed".

Arab World

Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)

A drone attack by a notorious paramilitary group hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s ongoing war.

The vehicle transported displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area of North Kordofan, the doctors’ group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants, the group said.

The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organizations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for about three years.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.