Israel and Hamas are holding indirect negotiations in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, based on a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump last month.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are all due to attend the talks.
“There’s a real chance that we could do something,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, adding that US negotiators were also involved in the talks.
“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It’s something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately.”
Trump said the US would do “everything possible to make sure everyone adheres to the deal” if Hamas and Israel do agree on a ceasefire.
The talks came as Israel commemorated the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.
At the close of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, Hamas-led rebels launched the deadliest attack on Israel in the country’s history, sparking a huge retaliatory offensive in Gaza.
It resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Rebels also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, of whom 47 remain captive, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and Israeli hostage families still longing for their loved ones’ return.
A UN probe accused last month Israel of genocide in Gaza while rights groups have accused Hamas of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Oct 7 attack. Both sides reject the allegations.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined pro-Palestinian mass demonstrations in cities across the world last weekend, calling for an immediate end to the war, including in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Britain.
Demonstrators in the Netherlands called for their government to recognise a Palestinian state, while tens of thousands in Britain defied Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s calls to skip rallies, holding vigils and gatherings on the Oct 7 anniversary.
‘Guarantees’
Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the Islamist group wants “guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all”.
Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The plan received positive responses from both Israel and Hamas and prompted indirect talks in Egypt since Monday.
A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team 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”.
US representatives Witkoff and Kushner were expected to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday, according to Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, after they were initially expected to arrive last weekend.
“The primary guarantee of success at this stage is US President Trump himself… even if it comes to a point to require him imposing a vision,” he said.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers credible.
The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that over half of the dead are women and children.