Hamas, Israel upbeat as senior negotiators join peace talks

Hamas and Israel voiced cautious positivity about the prospects of ending the two-year war in Gaza, as top mediators arrived in Egypt for a third day of negotiations on U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

“A spirit of optimism is prevailing among all parties,” said Taher Al-Nounou, a member of the Hamas delegation who has been present at the talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh since Monday. Details on the exchange of hostages for prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli troops are being discussed, he said.

Encouraged by the apparent progress toward implementing the 20-point proposal unveiled by Trump early last week, Washington sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to the talks, according to people briefed on the matter who requested anonymity so they could discuss private negotiations.

Israel signaled confidence in the direction of the indirect diplomacy by dispatching its senior negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to take part as of Wednesday. Dermer is one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most trusted advisers.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said he’s received “encouraging” news about the negotiations, and invited Trump to travel to the North African country for the signing of a deal if an agreement is reached.

Hamas has offered to free the last of the hostages it holds from the Oct. 7, 2023 raid on southern Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza, a conflict that’s devastated the Palestinian territory and destabilized much of the Middle East. Yet, the Iran-backed group — designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union — has stopped short of agreeing to other stipulations such as for its remaining fighters to disarm.

The talks have “focused on mechanisms for ending the war” and “the withdrawal of occupation forces,” Al-Nounou said. That may presage a dispute over the implementation sequence: Trump’s plan calls for the war to be declared over, but only for partial redeployments of the Israeli army in the first phase of implementation.

Al-Nounou said Hamas has handed over a list of candidates for the 1,950 Palestinian prisoners or detainees which the Trump plan requires Israel to free in exchange for the 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. On Tuesday, a Hamas spokesperson said it would be looking for a “fair hostage exchange,” signaling the group is likely to push for the release of high-ranking officers.

Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu’s security Cabinet, said there’s “cautious optimism” about the talks. But some Palestinian prisoners are off the table when it comes to finalizing the release roster, which requires Israeli government approval, she said.

“We are approaching a process in which, to our regret, we shall have to hand over terrorists who murdered Jews and who should be spending the rest of their lives in jail,” Gamliel told Galey Israel radio, while adding that “arch-terrorists” would be kept behind bars.

Since Trump went public with his plan, Israel says its forces, which have taken over the majority of Gaza, have assumed a defensive position. But Hamas says airstrikes and shelling continue. Israel has in recent weeks began a military campaign on Gaza City, the enclave’s de facto capital, saying the last Hamas bastions are embedded there.

Pressure to complete a ceasefire deal has come not only from Washington but from Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Gulf nations are intent on pushing ahead in a way that secures regional stability, allowing them to respond to pressure from citizens to stop the killing and destruction in Gaza and focus on plans for economic development.

The war has at times spread elsewhere in the Middle East. Israel has fought other Iranian-backed militias since the war started, most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Islamic Republic itself.

Qatar, which like Egypt has served as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas, was due to send its Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Sharm El-Sheikh on Wednesday, according to the foreign ministry in Doha. Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that Ibrahim Kalin, the director of Turkish intelligence, was also on his way to the resort, a sign that Ankara — a vocal critic of Israel’s military campaign — is on board with the Trump administration’s plan.

“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East, something even beyond the Gaza situation,” Trump said on Tuesday. “There’s a real chance that we could do something.”

For Trump, a truce in the coming days and the freeing of the hostages could boost his campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize, with the next winner being announced on Oct. 10. Bloomberg has reported that the president’s public and behind-closed-doors push to get the award has intensified in recent days.

Hamas said Tuesday an agreement should include the unconditional entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, an assurance that refugees can return and immediate permission to begin reconstruction under a Palestinian committee. A U.N.-body has declared a famine in parts of the territory.

Negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have previously and repeatedly fallen through over disagreements surrounding the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disarming of Hamas.

The Egypt talks come two years after thousands of Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting another 250. The resulting war has killed over 67,000 Gazans, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there. Israel has lost more than 450 troops in Gaza combat.