Israeli negotiation team heads to Egypt for talks on hostage swap, Gaza cease-fire with Hamas: Media

Israel's Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar led a negotiation delegation to Egypt on Monday to continue talks with Hamas on a possible hostage swap deal and cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.

"The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar, has traveled to Egypt to continue talks on a potential cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

"Bar will also discuss the prevention of arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian border," the newspaper added.

For months, efforts by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a hostage swap deal and cease-fire have been hampered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,150 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.