Egypt pushing for Gaza aid deliveries during hiatus to Israel’s attacks expected when Trump visits region

With wheels still spinning on the long-term truce proposal put forward last week by Egypt and Qatar, Egypt is pushing to ensure that another shorter pause in the fighting in Gaza, expected to be timed in line with US President Donald Trump's visit to the region, is used as an opportunity to secure the entry of vital humanitarian aid that has been blocked by Israel for nearly two months, two Egyptian officials told Mada Masr.

The United States is insisting on a pause to the fighting by the time Trump travels to the region in May, according to the officials, who both said they expect the halt would be short term.

“Two to three weeks if we can get it,” one said. “We are working very hard for a 20-day ceasefire that will mostly be humanitarian,” they continued, noting that it would also involve a prisoner exchange framework. 

Palestinians in the strip have had no food, fuel or any other commodities reaching them since early March, when Israel abandoned the prisoner-release framework established under the ceasefire deal and imposed a blockade to pressure Hamas into releasing the abductees it still holds.

Food prices have skyrocketed by 1,400 percent during that time, according to the United Nations. The government said that 52 people have died due to health conditions caused by malnutrition, 50 of whom were children.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar arrived at a long-term truce proposal last week that suggested a five to seven year truce, the complete withdrawal of Israel’s forces from the strip and an immediate prisoner exchange — all the Israelis held in Gaza for a specified number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The proposal included major changes compared to the earlier framework that had established the shaky January ceasefire, stipulating that Hamas would cede governance in the strip and the Palestinian Authority or another group would take over. A Hamas source speaking to Mada Masr last week said that while most of the terms were acceptable, it would not countenance the clause on it resigning control of its weapons.

Hamas left Cairo in recent days with little indication from any of the parties that the proposal was nearing a viable conclusion. A senior Israeli official was cited in the Israeli media on Monday night saying emphatically that they would not accept a long-term deal.

Under the US administration’s pressure, however, a shorter pause could take place, according to the second Egyptian official who spoke to Mada Masr. The official believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could agree to a temporary pause for the duration of Trump’s upcoming visit to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and resume the war at a later point. 

The first Egyptian official noted that the shorter pause would also see all Israelis still in Gaza released in exchange for about 1,000 or more Palestinians. 

“It doesn’t look like we will get a long ceasefire,” said a third source, who works at a state-affiliated research center in direct talks with Hamas officials, adding that Hamas anticipates instead that Israel will expand its attack on Palestinians in the strip. 

A humanitarian pause, however, appears more viable according to the first Egyptian official, who said that Israel nevertheless continues to haggle about the number of humanitarian convoys to be admitted and who will do the inspections.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said earlier this week that it has hundreds of thousands of trucks ready and waiting at the border to enter.