JERUSALEM

An Israeli delegation will leave for Cairo on Sunday to negotiate a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, despite rising tensions on the Lebanese front.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, an unnamed Israeli political source confirmed that the negotiating team, which includes Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and the Israel Defense Forces' missing persons liaison Nitzan Alon, will travel to Cairo as planned.

The Israeli news site Walla reported that Barnea will participate in a quadrilateral meeting with US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, Egyptian Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

However, Israeli media has lowered expectations for the talks due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, which Hamas opposes.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli army carried out a massive air raid, which it called a “preemptive strike,” on southern Lebanon, claiming to have thwarted Hezbollah's attack before its launch.

Earlier, Hezbollah reported launching 320 rockets at Israeli military targets as the initial phase of its response to the July assassination of its commander, Fouad Shukr, by Israel.

Since October 8, 2023, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Blue Line, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,300 Palestinians since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi