CAIRO, Egypt: Hamas on Sunday called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from both sides were set to meet in Egypt for indirect talks aimed at ending nearly two years of Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
Foreign ministers of eight Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkiye, said the talks were a “real opportunity” to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire.
“Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions,” a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The diplomatic push follows the Palestinian group’s positive response to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for an end to the ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Negotiators are due to hold talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that hostages held in Gaza could be released within days.
Netanyahu said Saturday he had instructed negotiators to go to Egypt “to finalise the technical details”, while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on “the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners”.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the country’s delegation would be leaving Sunday evening, with talks slated to start Monday.
Trump’s envoys travel to Egypt
The White House said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt — his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
“During communications with mediators, Hamas insisted that it is essential for Israel to halt military operations across all areas of the Gaza Strip, cease all air, reconnaissance, and drone activity, and withdraw from inside Gaza City,” a Palestinian source close to Hamas said, as cited by AFP. The source said that the Palestinian group would “also halt their military operations” in parallel.
Hamas’s fighters seized 251 hostages during the October 7 attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza, according to AFP. Of those, the Israeli military believes 25 are dead.
According to Trump’s plan, in return for the hostages, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the war began.
But Trump has warned he will “not tolerate delay” from Hamas, urging the Palestinian group to move quickly towards a deal “or else all bets will be off”.
Trump said on Truth Social that Israel had agreed to an initial line of withdrawal in Gaza and that this had been shared with Hamas.
“When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal,” Trump posted, alongside a map of the proposed line.
Israel continues strikes
Despite Trump calling on Israel to halt its bombings, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force, said Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza City in the morning, after several attacks through the night. Nearly 60 people were killed across the territory the day before, it said.
The United Nations had estimated that around one million people were living in the area before the start of the Israeli assault.
No role for Hamas
Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the Palestinian territory’s future, though Trump’s roadmap stipulates that it and other factions “not have any role in the governance of Gaza”.
The plan also calls for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’s disarmament — something the group has frequently described as a red line in the past.
Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
Since October 2023, Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 67,139 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the besieged territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
