Red Cross offers to mediate hostage, detainee swap

ISLAMABAD: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday that it was ready to act as a neutral humanitarian intermediary to help bring Israeli and Palestinian hostages back to their families, Reuters reported.

"We are also prepared to bring aid into Gaza and distribute it safely to civilians in desperate need," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire in Gaza grew after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week, the Associated Press reported.

US President Donald Trump has welcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the US peace plan.

Israel has stated that it supports the new US effort.

The delegation, led by top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer, will leave on Monday for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu's office said.

‘Closest we’ve come’

An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived. 

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said US envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks.

Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation “the closest we’ve come to getting all of the hostages released.”

Egyptian president praises Trump's plan 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan on Monday, as negotiators from Hamas, Israel and the United States converged on Egypt to discuss a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire, the AFP reported.

"I can only extend my praise and appreciation for US President Donald Trump," he said in an address, adding: "A ceasefire, the return of prisoners and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza and the launch of a peaceful political process that leads to the establishment and recognition of the Palestinian state means we are on the right path to lasting peace and stability."

Back to the ‘yellow line’

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,’’ he described two phases after Hamas accepts Trump’s framework: The hostages are released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the “yellow line,” where it was in August.

Rubio told CBS that Hamas should release hostages as they are ready, and that bombardment needs to end so they can be released.

The US plan also addresses Gaza's future, the Associated Press reported.

In a text exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump said there would be “complete obliteration” if Hamas stayed in power there. 

Trump also texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending the bombing and peace in Gaza, but added, “soon on the rest.”

Support for a ceasefire grows

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Badrosian told journalists that Netanyahu is in “regular contact” with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talks in Egypt “will be confined to a few days maximum.”

“I hope that we are closest to a hostage deal since the (ceasefire) deal in January,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a speech.

Anxious relatives of hostages gathered near Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, with some urging Trump to continue to apply pressure. 

Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza City led many to fear for the hostages' lives.

“We cannot allow such a historic agreement to be sacrificed again,” said Michel Ilouz, father of Guy Ilouz.

‘Full Israeli withdrawal’

As hundreds of thousands of people marched across several European cities and elsewhere in support of Palestinians, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries issued a joint statement welcoming steps toward a possible ceasefire.

They also underlined their commitment to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank, and reaching an agreement leading to a “full Israeli withdrawal” from Gaza.

Rubio told ABC that decisions regarding a governing structure or an international group to manage Gaza can be made simultaneously with the first step of the ceasefire.

“That’s the part that I think is going to be a little tougher to work through, but that’s what’s going to provide permanency to the end of the conflict,” he said.

Iran supports moves towards Palestinian 'self-determination'

Iran said Sunday it supports "any initiative" aiming to secure "self-determination" for the Palestinian people, on the eve of negotiations in Egypt on ending the war between the Palestinian group and Israel, AFP reported.

Iran "has always supported any initiative aimed at ending ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and paving the way for the realisation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Tehran was ready to help deliver aid to the coastal strip.

Strikes continue 

Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza, but residents and local hospitals said strikes continued across the territory, according to AP.

The Israeli government spokeswoman, Badrosian, said “certain bombings have actually stopped inside the Gaza Strip.”

But Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said that “if the political effort does not succeed, we will return to fight.”

24 Palestinians killed 

Despite a call from Trump for Israel to pause its Gaza offensive, the Israeli army has continued its bombing campaign.

Israeli troops killed at least 24 Palestinians on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.

Among the victims were four asylum seekers who were shot near an aid distribution centre north of Rafah, the Nasser Medical Complex said.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed the death of colleague Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, who was wounded in an attack on Thursday that killed another colleague in Gaza, AP reported.

Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,139 on Sunday, with nearly 170,000 injured.

The UN and many independent experts consider the ministry’s figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Israel's military has warned residents not to return to northern Gaza.

“We’re on the brink, and we don’t know whether one will die of a strike or starvation,” said Mahmoud Hashem, a Palestinian father sheltering in a tent in Gaza City.