KEY POINTS
- Hamas and Israel opened indirect talks in Egypt to end Gaza war.
- The talks focus on a prisoner-hostage exchange and ceasefire terms.
- The negotiations follow a peace plan by President Donald Trump.
- Trump urged both sides to “move fast” to end the conflict.
- Israeli air strikes continued Monday, killing at least 21 Palestinians.
- Hamas seeks an Israeli withdrawal and halt to bombardment before releasing hostages.
- Israel demands Hamas disarm and plans to redeploy troops “deep inside” Gaza.
CAIRO, Egypt: Delegations from Hamas and Israel on Monday began indirect talks in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza, Egyptian state-linked media reported.
Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, said the delegations “are discussing preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners”, in line with a proposal from US President Donald Trump to halt the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
“Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the news channel reported.
Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators will speak through mediators shuttling back and forth, only weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamas’s lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar.
The Hamas delegation, led by top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who survived the attack in Doha, held a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials ahead of the talks, AFP reported, citing an Egyptian security source as saying.
This round of negotiations “may last for several days”, said a Palestinian source close to Hamas’s leadership, according to AFP.
“We expect the negotiations to be difficult and complex, given the occupation’s intentions to continue its war of extermination,” he said as quoted by AFP.
Israel continues offensive
Trump, whose envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Egypt, has urged negotiators to “move fast” to end the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes continued on Monday.
The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that Israeli attacks have killed at least 21 people and wounded 96 over the past 24 hours.
The ministry said that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has surged to 67,160 – the majority of whom are women and children – since the beginning of the Israeli military offensive in October 2023. At least 169,679 others have been wounded.
AFP footage showed explosions in the Gaza Strip, with plumes of smoke rising over the skyline, even after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel must stop bombing the territory.
‘Require several days’
Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump’s proposal, but reaching an agreement on the details is set to be a herculean task.
The plan envisages the disarmament of Hamas, which the Palestinian group is unlikely to accept.
It also provides for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to redeploy troops “deep inside” the Palestinian territory while securing the release of hostages.
According to the Palestinian source, cited by AFP, the initial hostage-prisoner exchange will “require several days, depending on field conditions related to Israeli withdrawals, the cessation of bombardment and the suspension of all types of air operations”.
Negotiations will look to “determine the date of a temporary truce”, a Hamas official said, as cited by AFP, as well as create conditions for a first phase of the plan, in which 47 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has coordinated previous exchanges, said its teams were standing ready “to help bring hostages and detainees back to their families”.
The ICRC said it was ready to facilitate aid access, which must resume “at full capacity” and be distributed safely across the Palestinian territory, where the UN has declared a famine.
Trump asks for quick action
Posting on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump praised “positive discussions with Hamas” and allies around the world, including Arab and Muslim nations.
“I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” he wrote.
On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised Trump’s plan, saying it offered “the right path to lasting peace and stability”.
A Palestinian source close to Hamas, cited by AFP, said it would halt its military operations in parallel with Israel stopping its bombardment and withdrawing its troops from Gaza City.
Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warned if the negotiations failed, then the military would “return to fighting” in Gaza.
Hamas seized 251 hostages during their October 7, 2023, attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, the Israeli military says 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 Gaza taken during the military offensive.
Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the territory’s future, though Trump’s roadmap stipulates that it and other Palestinian groups “not have any role in the governance of Gaza”.
Under the proposal, administration of the Palestinian territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
“We hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu and force him to stop the war,” said Ahmad Barbakh, from the Al-Mawasi area.
“We want the prisoner exchange deal to be completed quickly so that Israel has no excuse to continue the war,” Barbakh said as quoted by AFP.
