Officials from Hamas have left Cairo after talks with Egyptian officials on a new cease-fire proposal in Gaza. Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel said Tuesday that a Hamas delegation will return to Cairo with a written response to the cease-fire proposal, without saying when. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began. It was sparked Oct. 7 by a raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
