Hamas says indirect Gaza truce talks with Israel in ‘advanced stages’

Talks on a deal between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which are mediated by the UN and Egyptian, are in “advanced stages,” a senior member of the Palestinian enclave’s dominant Islamist Hamas group said on Wednesday. “We can say that actions led by the United Nations and Egypt are in advanced stages and we hope it could yield some good from them,” Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy Hamas chief in Gaza, told Al Jazeera. “What is required is for calm to be restored along the border.” The remarks were echoed by a top Israeli lawmaker, suggesting a possible breakthrough after four months of confrontations, Reuters reports.