JERUSALEM (AP) — A round of high-level talks in Cairo aimed at forging a cease-fire and hostage deal to at least temporarily end the 10-month war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip ended Sunday without a final agreement, a U.S. official said. But talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days to fill remaining gaps.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said lower-level “working teams” will remain in Cairo to meet with mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt to resolve remaining differences. The official described the latest talks, which began in Cairo on Thursday and continued through Sunday, as “constructive” and said all parties were working to “reach a final and workable agreement.”
CIA Director William Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, took part in the talks. A Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not participate directly in the negotiations.
The development came after heavy shelling broke out between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah early Sunday morning, but both sides stopped short of triggering a widely feared all-out war. Both sides signaled their fiercest exchange in months was over.
Hezbollah claimed it hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, and Israel claimed the dozens of strikes were preemptive to avert a larger attack. Neither provided evidence.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack was a response to Israel’s killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut last month. It was postponed to give ceasefire talks in Gaza a chance and so the Iran-backed groups could discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel all at once. Israeli and American military operations also played a role.
“We now reserve the right to react at a later stage” if the results of Sunday’s attack are not sufficient, Nasrallah said, adding that allied Houthi rebels in Yemen – and Iran itself – had not yet responded. But he told the Lebanese people: “At this current stage, the country can breathe a sigh of relief and relax.”
Israel and Hezbollah said they attacked only military targets. Israel said Hezbollah did not hit a military target, but one Marine soldier was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor or by shrapnel from one. Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had eliminated thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones heading toward the center of the country.
“I repeat – this is not the end of the story,” he added.
Flights are diverted because the sirens are blaring
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel and Israel’s international airport was closed for about an hour and air traffic was diverted.
Israel’s military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said about 100 Israeli aircraft had attacked 270 targets, 90 percent of which were rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel. He said they were investigating the percentage of rockets and drones intercepted, but said the “vast majority” had been thwarted.
Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets on several targets in Israel, as well as a “large number” of drones.
Some Israelis were shocked. In the northern city of Akko, 76-year-old retired teacher Saadia Even Tsur said he had been in the synagogue and returned home five minutes after his bedroom was destroyed. “I went up and saw the magnitude of the miracle that had happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris lay on the bed.
Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister Amin Salam said after an emergency government meeting that officials were “somewhat more optimistic” about de-escalation after both sides confirmed the end of operations.
President Joe Biden is “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon,” said Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council. The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant and ordered both U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups in the region to stay. The U.S. military has been increasing its forces across the region in recent weeks.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown arrived in Israel late Sunday to attend meetings on what the Israeli military called “joint preparations in the region as part of responding to threats in the Middle East.”
Total war apparently averted for now
Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah may be trying to “keep the balance without starting a war.” Each side hopes its narrative will be enough to declare victory and avoid a larger confrontation, he said.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the war in Gaza broke out, sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7. Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah, which fought Israel in a stalemate in 2006, is now considered far more powerful. The US and Israel estimate that the group has around 150,000 rockets and is capable of striking anywhere in Israel. The group has also developed drones that can evade Israel’s defences and precision-guided munitions.
Israel has vowed a devastating response to any major Hezbollah attack. It has an extensive multi-layered missile defense system and is backed by a US-led coalition that helped Israel shoot down hundreds of missiles and drones fired from Iran earlier this year.
Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran, which has also threatened Israel with retaliation for the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Israel has not commented on whether it was involved in the killing.
Iranian state media played up Hezbollah’s attack and described it as a success. However, Iranian officials did not immediately comment.
The US and other mediators see a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the key to averting a larger Middle East war. Hezbollah has said it will stop its attacks on Israel if a ceasefire is reached.
The aim of the talks in Cairo on Sunday was to close gaps in a proposal for a ceasefire and the release of numerous hostages held by Hamas. CIA Director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of the Israeli secret service Mossad, also took part in the talks.
The Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not participate directly in the negotiations.
In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said it killed two people who allegedly tried to run over soldiers in Ariel, leaving one slightly injured.
