Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri, regarding the Iranian military operation to retaliate for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and the talks regarding a potential ceasefire-prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Bagheri noted that Iran reserves its "legitimate right" to respond to the "Zionist crime" of eliminating Haniyeh, adding that "the Palestinian nation, with its unusual bravery of heart, will never surrender to the Zionist entity."
A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that the phone call was held in light of regional developments and Egypt's intensive efforts to prevent security tensions in the region from escalating.
According to the spokesman, both sides discussed the efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and Abdelatty noted that the international community understands more than ever the importance of ending the war and achieving a prisoner swap deal.
The spokesman also stressed the importance of preventing tensions in the region from escalating, noting than an escalation will only deepen the instability and threats to peace and security in the region and around the globe.
Meanwhile, Hamas official and spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that US President Joe Biden's statements on reaching a deal are a "delusion."
Speaking to a French media outlet, Abu Zuhri said, "The occupation continues to thwart all of the efforts to reach any type of deal...we are not nearing a deal or true negotiations, but rather the forcing of US dictates."
A source familiar with the negotiations in Doha told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "two of the three basic issues were settled in a most basic way, and the more complex issue - which is the insistence by the Israeli occupation to remain in the Netzarim Corridor in order to inspect Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, the American delegation which is negotiating, led by US intelligence chief William Burns, said that the US President Joe Biden will solve that directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
He noted that the Israeli delegation which is negotiating expressed decisive opposition to withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from southern Gaza.