Hamas says it is seeking firm guarantees from U.S. President Donald Trump and mediators that Israel will not resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the terrorist group releases all the remaining hostages.
All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that started when the Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children. But key parts of the peace plan have still not been pinned down — including requirements that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and the creation of an international body to run Gaza after Hamas steps down from power.
Qatar’s prime minister and top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was heading to the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh to join the talks.
Also expected Wednesday were Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to talk to reporters because the trip has not yet been formally announced.
From Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser, Ron Dermer, was also to join, an Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
As Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators met with both sides in preliminary talks on Wednesday morning, a senior Hamas official, Taher Nounou, said the group has exchanged a list of Palestinian prisoners it seeks to release in return for Israeli hostages under the deal’s terms.
Trump’s peace plan
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that are what remains of the 250 hostages the terrorist group took captive. Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.
It envisages Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force being put in place. The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Wednesday in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging.”
Netanyahu has accepted Trump’s plan. His office said Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic,” framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved.
In a statement Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted. Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.
Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Trump and mediators that the war “will not return.” It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.
