Egyptian media confirmed the launch of the Paris meetings, to discuss reaching a calm in the Gaza Strip, while the negotiations currently taking place in the French capital are described as the most serious attempt to reach a ceasefire in the Strip.

Delegations from Hamas, Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the United States participate in the meetings.

Cairo News Channel said, “The Paris meetings regarding the truce in the Gaza Strip began with the participation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.”

She explained that "the meetings aim to achieve calm in Gaza, release Israeli and Palestinian detainees, and support the humanitarian situation in the Strip."

During 140 days of bloody war, a week-long truce was established between Hamas and Israel from November 24 until December 1, 2023, during which a ceasefire took place, an exchange of prisoners, and the entry of limited humanitarian aid, with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Israeli government’s war council agreed to send its negotiating delegation to Paris, to hold talks related to the release of prisoners and a ceasefire in Gaza.

A Hamas official said on Friday that the movement had concluded ceasefire talks in Cairo, adding that it was now waiting to see what the mediators would return from the weekend talks with Israel.

The mediators intensified their efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, hoping to stave off an Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in Gaza, where more than a million displaced people live on the southern edge of the Strip.

Israel says it will attack the city if a truce agreement is not reached soon. Washington called on its close ally not to do so, warning of heavy civilian casualties if the attack on the city continued.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, met with Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss the truce last week in his first visit since December.

Last January, a meeting was held in the French capital with the participation of Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, to discuss a prisoner exchange deal and stop the war in Gaza.

Since last October 7, Israel, which is on trial before the International Justice Commission on charges of committing “genocide” crimes against the Palestinians, has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Friday, has left about 30,000 dead, the majority of whom are children and women.