CAIRO: Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks at an Egyptian resort on Monday on a US-drafted peace plan to end the ruinous war in Gaza on the eve of its second anniversary.&nbsp;Many uncertainties remain about the plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump last week, including the disarmament of the militant group &mdash; a key Israeli demand &mdash; and the future governance of Gaza. Trump has indicated an agreement on Gaza could pave the way for a Middle East peace process that could reshape the region.&nbsp;Despite Trump ordering Israel to stop the bombing, Israel continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes, killing at least 19 people in the last 24 hours, Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry said.&nbsp;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 scheduled to arrive on Monday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&rsquo;s office. Hamas&rsquo; delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayyah, arrived Sunday in Egypt, the group said.&nbsp;It said negotiations will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by the militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention.&nbsp;US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt&rsquo;s state-run al-Ahram reported.&nbsp;This latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the US plan that Israel also said it supported. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages &mdash; about 20 believed to be alive &mdash; within three days. It would give up power and disarm.&nbsp;The talks in Egypt are expected to move quickly. Netanyahu said they would be &ldquo;confined to a few days maximum,&rdquo; though some Hamas officials have warned more time may be needed to locate the bodies of hostages buried under rubble.&nbsp;Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi hailed Trump&rsquo;s efforts. &ldquo;A ceasefire, the return of hostages and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the start of a peaceful political process leading to the establishment and recognition of a Palestinian state mean that we are on the right path toward lasting peace and solid stability,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;He underscored the importance of preserving the US-crafted &ldquo;peace system&rdquo; in the Middle East since the 1970s, which he said &ldquo;served as a strategic framework for regional stability.&rdquo;&nbsp;El-Sisi spoke in a televised address commemorating the anniversary of the Oct. 6, 1973, war with Israel that led to Egypt reclaiming the Sinai Peninsula, where Sharm el-Sheikh is located. US wants Israeli bombing to stopThe US has said Israel&#39;s heavy bombardment of Gaza would need to stop for the hostages to be released. Israel says it&#39;s largely heeding Trump&#39;s call.&nbsp;Israel&#39;s military said it is mostly carrying out defensive strikes to protect troops, though dozens of Palestinians have been killed since the military&#39;s statement Saturday night.&nbsp;Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry said Monday the bodies of 19 people, including two aid-seekers killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire, had been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. Another 96 were wounded. The deaths brought the Palestinian toll to 67,160 since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war, with nearly 170,000 wounded, the ministry said.&nbsp;The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.&nbsp;Hamas-led abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack. Most of the Israeli hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals.&nbsp;Meanwhile, families of Israeli hostages petitioned the Nobel Prize Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump for what they called his unprecedented contributions to global peace.&nbsp;&ldquo;At this very moment, President Trump&rsquo;s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table,&rdquo; the families wrote. &ldquo;For the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over.&rdquo;&nbsp;In a commemoration ceremony for Israelis killed at the Nir Oz Kibbutz on Oct. 7, Daniel Lifshitz said the primary focus of talks should be the swift release of all remaining hostages.&nbsp;&ldquo;Israel will pay painful concessions by releasing mass murderers and terrorists that killed many among our friends and families here in Israel, but we cherish life and in Trump we trust to make it happen, and that we will have good news in 24 to 36 hours,&quot; said Lifshitz, grandson of slain hostage Oded and released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz. &#39;Living in fear, war and displacement&#39;In Gaza, families of Palestinian babies born on the day the war began hoped to celebrate their second birthday to the sound of laughter and cheers instead of the cacophony of bombing and bullets.&nbsp;Mothers&#39; hope for a normal life has long worn thin amid repeated displacements, a constant fear for their safety and a lack of access to proper healthcare.&nbsp;Rola Saqer said the two years since giving birth to her daughter Masa have been full of suffering.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was hoping (Masa) would grow up with a strong personality, but she is weak. She has suffered malnutrition. The girl has weighed eight kilos (17 pounds) for five months now,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;Laundry, a plastic chair, and a carpet make up the bulk of the family&#39;s possessions in their tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp.&nbsp;Amal al-Taweel and her husband, Mostafa, had their son, Ali, after three years of trying to conceive a child. They now live in a tent without proper sanitation, food, vaccination,s and even toys.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was envisioning a different life for him &hellip; He couldn&rsquo;t experience what a safe family life feels like,&quot; al-Taweel said.&nbsp;

Middle East

Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks at an Egyptian resort on a US-drafted peace plan to end the ruinous war in Gaza

Israel, Hamas prepare for Egypt talks before Gaza war anniversary

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ISLAMABAD: Hamas says it is ready to free Gaza hostages under US President Donald Trump ceasefire proposal, AFP reported on Saturday. &quot;The movement announces its approval for the release of all hostages -- living and remains -- according to the exchange formula included in President Trump&rsquo;s proposal,&quot; Hamas said in a statement, adding it was ready to enter negotiations &quot;to discuss the details&quot;. US President Donald Trump said Friday he believed Hamas was ready for peace and told Israel to stop bombing Gaza, after the Palestinian group declared it was ready to free hostages under his ceasefire plan.&nbsp; &quot;Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!&quot; Trump posted on Truth Social.<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115312298602997974/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>The US president also shared Hamas&#39; response to his peace proposal on Truth Social.&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115312181572421839/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>&nbsp;Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s office said on Saturday that Israel was seeking the &quot;immediate implementation&quot; of US President Donald Trump&#39;s plan to free Israeli hostages in Gaza, after Hamas said it was ready for peace talks, according to AFP. Closest to ceasefire, gratitude due to Trump: PM Sharif Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that a ceasefire was closer &quot;than we have been since this genocide&quot; started against the Palestinian people.&nbsp; In a post on X, PM Sharif said Pakistan has always stood by the Palestinian people and shall always do so.&nbsp; &quot;Gratitude is due to President Trump, as well as to leaderships of Qatar, Saudia Arabia, UAE, Turkiye, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia who, met with President Trump on the sidelines of UNGA80 [United Nations General Assembly] for the resolution of the Palestinian issue,&quot; PM Sharif said.&nbsp; &quot;The statement issued by Hamas creates a window for a ceasefire and ensuring peace that we must not allow to close again,&quot; he said. He added that Pakistan would continue to work with all its partners and friendly nations to everlasting peace in Palestine. &#39;Immediate implementation&#39;&nbsp; &quot;In light of Hamas&#39;s response, Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages,&quot; Netanyahu&#39;s office said in a statement. &quot;We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump&#39;s vision.&quot; Israel&#39;s political echelon instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza after it said it was preparing for an &quot;immediate implementation&quot; of the first stage of US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza plan following Hamas&#39; response on the plan, according to Reuters. A statement issued by St&eacute;phane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations stated: &ldquo;The Secretary-General welcomes and is encouraged by the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage on the basis of the recent proposal by US President Donald J Trump.&rdquo; &ldquo;He urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end. The Secretary-General also thanks Qatar and Egypt for their invaluable mediation work. The Secretary-General reiterates his consistent call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and unfettered humanitarian access,&rdquo; the statement said. &ldquo;The United Nations will support all efforts toward these objectives to prevent even more suffering,&rdquo; it added.

Israel says ready to implement first stage of Trump's plan for release of all hostages; Hamas also seeks administration of Gaza to a Palestinian body; PM Sharif says closest to ceasefire, gratitude due to Trump.


Articles tagged with "Peace plan"

Israel, Hamas prepare for Egypt talks before Gaza war anniversary

Trump urges Israel to 'stop bombing Gaza' as Hamas agrees to freeing hostages