KEY POINTS
- Egypt and Hamas voice optimism, saying early signs from the talks were “encouraging.”
- President Sisi praises US support and invites Trump to Egypt for a potential deal signing.
- Trump’s 20-point peace plan forms the basis of the talks but omits any reference to a Palestinian state.
- Hamas seeks international guarantees that Israel’s war on Gaza will end “once and for all.”
- The Palestinian group insists on a full Israeli troop withdrawal and a comprehensive ceasefire.
- Qatari and Turkish mediators to join the Sharm El-Sheikh talks as discussions continue.
CAIRO, Egypt: Top US negotiators joined Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt on Wednesday, as both Cairo and Hamas expressed optimism over progress toward ending Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, with Egypt saying it had received “encouraging” signs so far.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hailed the support of US President Donald Trump, whose 20-point peace proposal forms the basis of the talks, while Hamas, too, expressed “optimism” over the indirect talks with Israel.
Both Israel and Hamas have responded positively to Trump’s plan, which calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory. However, Trump’s proposal has no mention of a framework for a Palestinian state.
Egyptian state-linked media aired footage of Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner pulling up to the talks in Sharm El-Sheikh on Wednesday.
Sisi said the word he had received since their arrival in the city the night before was “very encouraging”, adding the US envoys came “with a strong will, a strong message, and a strong mandate from President Trump to end the war in this round of negotiations”.
Sisi also invited Trump himself to travel to Egypt for a signing ceremony if a deal were reached.
At the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East” if Hamas and Israel did agree on a ceasefire.
Hamas wants international guarantees
More broadly, Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the Palestinian resistance group wants “guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all”.
A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team, cited by AFP, said Tuesday’s session included Hamas discussing “the initial maps presented by the Israeli side regarding the withdrawal of troops as well as the mechanism and timetable for the hostage-prisoner exchange”.
Senior Hamas officials said they would not agree to any deal without written, internationally backed guarantees ensuring Israel ends its war on Gaza and withdraws all troops from the enclave.
The group’s representatives told mediators that previous truces had been violated by Israel, and that only a binding framework — endorsed by guarantor states — could prevent another collapse.
“We do not trust the occupation, not even for a second,” said senior Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, speaking to Egypt’s Al-Qahera News.
He accused Israel of breaking “two previous ceasefires” and insisted that Hamas wanted “real guarantees” the war would not be restarted under any pretext.
Under the US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, the two sides are negotiating a phased exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a total ceasefire, and Gaza’s reconstruction.
But Hamas leaders say the plan’s timeline for Israeli troop withdrawal is vague and lacks enforceable safeguards.
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum told Al Jazeera that the group’s delegation was seeking an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” and “the complete withdrawal of the occupation army.”
He said Hamas intends to release Israeli captives in stages linked directly to Israel’s troop pullout — an arrangement requiring third-party monitoring.
Hamas has formally requested Qatar, Egypt, and the United States to serve as guarantors of any future agreement, fearing a repeat of past violations.
“We want real guarantees that the aggression will end completely and will not return under any name,” Barhoum said.
The group’s negotiators also want reconstruction of Gaza to begin immediately after the ceasefire, managed by a Palestinian national body of technocrats, not under foreign supervision.
“We agree not to participate in Gaza’s governance after the war,” Barhoum said, “but reconstruction must remain in Palestinian hands.”
‘Optimism prevails’
Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu, cited by AFP from Sharm El-Sheikh, said that “mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails”.
The Palestinian group submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase of the truce “in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers”, Nunu added.
In exchange, Hamas is set to free 47 hostages, both alive and dead, who were seized in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin are also expected at the talks on Wednesday, AFP reported.
ALSO READ: Qatari Prime Minister to Join Gaza Ceasefire Talks as Mediators Push for Breakthrough
Meanwhile, Hamas said it would be joined by delegations from Islamic Jihad — which has also held some of the hostages in Gaza — as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Gaza death toll soars to 76,183
Since October 2023, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 67,183 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
A spokesman of Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force, said the bombardment of Gaza had not stopped, reporting three bodies retrieved on Wednesday.
AFP also reported multiple explosions in Gaza in the morning.
Hamas distrusts Trump’s plan
While Trump’s plan excludes Hamas from future governance and proposes an interim “Board of Peace” led by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Hamas leaders say such an arrangement is unacceptable.
They insist that any transitional mechanism must be Palestinian-led and free from Israeli or Western political control.
“The occupation and its allies have always used truces as breathing space for new aggression,” one senior Hamas official said, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. “This time we want guarantees — not promises.”
Hamas has called for international recognition of Gaza’s sovereignty after the withdrawal and wants foreign reconstruction funds channelled directly through Palestinian institutions.
In a separate interview with CNN in Doha, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said Hamas would not disarm and would continue armed resistance “as long as occupation exists.”
Pressed about the staggering civilian toll — more than 67,000 Palestinians killed since Israel’s retaliation began — Hamad said, “I know the price is high, but what is the option?”
He rejected claims that Hamas uses hostages or civilians as human shields, insisting they are treated “with Islamic principles.”
Hamad also demanded that any ceasefire deal must include ironclad commitments from guarantor nations — particularly the US — to hold Israel accountable if it resumes military operations. “The Americans cannot prove they are honest and neutral mediators,” he said.
Protests
Global pressure to end the ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened and the UN declaring famine.
In Gaza, people were desperate for an end to the Israeli military offensive that has upended their lives, interrupted their children’s education, and left many families scarred by loss and grief.
“We’re back to famine again in Gaza. There is no flour, no rice, no food,” said Umm Ahmad al-Zayyan, from Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, adding her “children have been going to bed hungry every night for weeks”.
A UN probe last month accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, while rights groups reported war crimes and crimes against humanity.
