Israel and Hamas entered a third day of peace talks at an Egyptian resort on Wednesday, with more officials from the United States, Israel and mediating middle countries expected to join – a sign negotiators aim to tackle the toughest issues in a US plan to end the war in Gaza.
Hamas says it is seeking firm guarantees from US President Donald Trump and mediators that Israel will not resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territories after the militant group released all remaining hostages.
All parties expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and much of the Gaza Strip was destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan remain unresolved — including requirements that Hamas withdraw, the timing and extent of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the establishment of an international body to operate Gaza after Hamas steps down from power.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, was heading to the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh to join the talks.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are also expected, according to a US official who was not allowed to speak with reporters because the trip had not been officially announced.
From Israel, an Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
As Gatari, Egyptian and US mediators met with both sides in preliminary talks on Wednesday morning, a senior Hamas official, Taher Nonoo, said the group had exchanged a list of Palestinian prisoners it seeks to release in exchange for Israeli hostages under the terms of the deal.
Trump peace plan
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the 48 Gaza militants still holding hostages from their October 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel that started the war and sparked Israel’s devastating retaliation. It is believed that about 20 hostages are still alive.
It envisions Israel withdrawing its forces from Gaza after Hamas is disarmed, and an international security force being put in its place. The territory will be placed under international governance, with Trump and former Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Wednesday in televised comments that negotiations so far “have been very encouraging.”
Netanyahu accepted Trump’s plan. His office said Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic,” framing the talks as technical negotiations on a plan to which both sides have already agreed.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza but said nothing about disarmament, a move it has long resisted. Hamas has also spoken out against the idea of international governance, although it has agreed that it will have no role in the post-war management of Gaza.
Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil Al-Haya, Hamas’s top negotiator, told Qahira TV in Egypt that the group wanted strong guarantees from Trump and mediators that the war “will not return.” It appears to be his first public appearance because an Israeli strike targeting him and other senior Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and the office director.
In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that resulted in the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Under the agreement — in which Trump and Witkoff played a major role in brokering — the two sides were supposed to enter long-term negotiations, Israeli withdrawal and full hostage release.
But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its massive bombing and material campaign, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
Previous rounds of negotiations have often collapsed over the same hurdle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the end of the war and Netanyahu balking at continuing the fight until the group is destroyed. Trump’s plan attempts to solve all the issues at once, by setting up a disarmament of Hamas and a post-war scenario for managing the territory with provisions for a massive rebuilding campaign.
Praying for a deal
In the Hamas-led offensive two years ago, militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefires or other deals.
A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by the United Nations, have said Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide — an accusation Israel denies. More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 have been injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says about half the deaths were women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
In the Gaza Strip, where much of the land lies in ruins, Palestinians are desperate for a breakthrough. Thousands of people from Israel’s recent offensive in northern Gaza and Gaza City have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the territory, sometimes using blankets for shelter.
“There is no food, no good water, and the crossings are blocked,” said Umm Suleiman Abu Afash, a displaced woman from Gaza City. “Our children are sleeping on the streets. We are buying drinking water. Where do we go? There is no mercy.”
Sarah Rehan, a displaced woman from Jabalia, said she had been praying for the end of the war. “I hope we can return to our places and homes even if there are no homes,” she said. “Being on our land is the greatest happiness for us.”
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.