Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that the joint Palestinian delegation, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, is to travel to Cairo on Saturday for ceasefire talks despite collapse of the truce in Gaza.

Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that the joint Palestinian delegation, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, is to travel to Cairo on Saturday for ceasefire talks despite collapse of the truce in Gaza.

"Abbas has formed the delegation, which will head Saturday for Cairo whatever the circumstances," his office said in a statement, giving the names of the 12-member delegation.

They included Abbas aide Azzam al-Ahmed, Palestinian Authority security head Majed Faraj, several senior Hamas officials including Moussa Abu Marzouq, and a leading member of Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhale.

The statement said they would discuss with Egyptian officials the "next steps" in trying to reach a ceasefire in a bloody Gaza offensive that has killed nearly 1,500 Palestinians in 25 days.

The announcement came after Islamic Jihad said Egypt was delaying talks on a long-term truce.

"The Egyptians contacted the Islamic Jihad and said Israel told them that a soldier has been captured," the group's deputy leader Ziad al-Nakhale told AFP.
"The talks have been postponed."