Israel, Hamas to discuss Trump peace plan Monday
An Israeli delegation is set to meet with representatives of the militant group Hamas in Egypt on Monday for U.S.-led truce talks aimed at putting an end to the assault on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Saturday that he is sending a team to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” adding that “our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days.”
The delegations are expected to discuss a possible exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas has held the hostages since the militant group launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas said it was ready to release all the hostages following U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for a “Gaza peace plan” on Friday, an announcement that many European leaders welcomed.
“Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions,” a senior Hamas official told AFP.
Despite Trump calling on Israel to stop bombing the coastal Palestinian enclave on Friday, Israel’s offensive on Gaza continued on Saturday, with dozens of people killed. Yemen’s Houthi rebel group also launched a missile at Israel on Saturday, which Israel intercepted, Al Jazeera reported.
The Israeli delegation will include Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, while Hamas could send senior officials Ghazi Hamad, Osama Hamdan and Muhamed Darwish, according to local media reports.
The White House said Trump had sent two envoys to Egypt, U.S. Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, American businessman and Trump’s son-in-law.
Late Saturday, Trump said on social media that Israel “has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas.” He said that when Hamas confirms that it agrees with the proposal, then a ceasefire will take effect and the exchange of hostages and prisoners will begin.
Trump’s Gaza peace plan says that the territory should be governed by a temporary “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” that would be supervised by an international body chaired by the U.S. president.
