CAIRO, May 4. /TASS/. The sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict reached an agreement on many contentious issues during the consultations on the situation in the Gaza Strip in Cairo, the Al-Qahera Al-Ihbaria TV channel reported.
According to the report, "the sides achieved a consensus form on many contentious issues" regarding a ceasefire in the enclave, with support of the Egyptian delegation, which acts as a mediator at the talks between Hamas and Israel.
An Al Arabiya source said that an agreement between Hamas and Israel is "unavoidable, unless new obstructions emerge."
The Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo earlier with an intent to complete the negotiations with Israel on cessation of hostilities in Gaza and to achieve an agreement, according to the movement’s statement. The movement pointed out that the Palestinian resistance is "determined to follow through [on the agreement] in a way that will satisfy the demands of the Palestinian people on a total cessation of the [Israeli] aggression, return of the displaced persons to their permanent residence locations, provision of humanitarian aid, rebuilding of the destroyed enclave and completion of a serious deal on exchange" of hostages, held captive in Gaza, for the Palestinians, detained in Israeli prisons.
The consultations in Cairo are attended by representatives of Egypt, Israel, Qatar, the US and the Hamas. According to Al Hadath, the movement "agreed to the proposed two stages of the settlement plan, and the main work [during the meetings] will focus on negotiation of the third stage," which will define the conditions for cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian enclave. The TV channel says that CIA Director William Burns will take part in the negotiations process in Cairo.