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ISRAELI AND HAMAS officials are meeting in an Egyptian resort today in the hopes of hammering out a potential ceasefire in Gaza on the eve of the war’s second anniversary.
The indirect negotiations will take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the Israeli delegation, headed by top negotiator Ron Dermer, is set to arrive today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas’s delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayyah, arrived in Egypt yesterday, the group said in a statement.
It said the negotiations will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the exchange of captives held by both sides.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram reported.
The latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the US plan, a move welcomed by Trump.
Israel has said it supports the new US effort.
Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages – about 20 of whom are believed to be alive – within three days.
The group would also give up power and disarm.
The talks in Egypt are expected to move quickly as Netanyahu said they would be “confined to a few days maximum”, though some Hamas officials have warned more time may be needed to locate bodies of hostages buried under rubble.
Israel’s heavy bombardment of Gaza would need to stop for Israeli hostages to be released.
Israel says it is largely heeding Trump’s call for ending the bombing.
The Israeli military said it is mostly carrying out defensive strikes to protect troops, though dozens of Palestinians have been killed since the military made the announcement on Saturday night.
The Israeli military said today that it eliminated “a terrorist cell armed with explosive devices and mortars” that intended to attack Israeli soldiers.
It also destroyed another “terrorist cell” that launched a mortar injuring one soldier, as well as a structure from where an anti-tack missile was launched against Israeli army engineering machinery.
Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip that followed the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023 has now killed more than 65,000 people and reduced much of the besieged territory to rubble.
A UN inquiry recently concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a genocide.
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