Hamas And Israel Begin Talks In Egypt Under Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan

Delegations from Hamas and Israel began indirect talks in Egypt on Monday aimed at ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza, with US President Donald Trump asserting that the Palestinian militant group appeared ready to compromise on his proposed peace plan.

According to Al-Qahera News, a media outlet linked to Egyptian intelligence, the first round of talks concluded “amid a positive atmosphere” and would resume on Tuesday. Negotiations are being held behind closed doors and under tight security, with mediators shuttling between the two sides—just weeks after Israel targeted Hamas’s lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar.

Al-Qahera News reported that discussions focused on “preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners,” adding that Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to establish a mechanism for exchanging hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

At the White House, Trump told reporters he was “pretty sure” a deal was within reach. “I think Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important… I think we’re going to have a deal,” he said.

Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator who survived last month’s Israeli attack in Doha, met with Egyptian intelligence officials ahead of the talks, according to an Egyptian security source.

The negotiations, launched on the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war, “may last for several days,” said a Palestinian source close to Hamas leadership. “We expect the negotiations to be difficult and complex, given the occupation’s intentions to continue its war of extermination,” he told AFP.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to arrive in Egypt as Washington pushes both sides to “move fast” to end the conflict. Israeli airstrikes continued Monday, killing at least seven Palestinians, according to Gaza’s civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. AFP footage showed explosions and rising plumes of smoke across the Gaza skyline, even after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Israel to halt its bombing campaign.

Both Hamas and Israel have shown cautious optimism toward Trump’s plan, though major differences remain. The proposal calls for Hamas to disarm—a demand the group has long rejected—and outlines a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has pledged to redeploy troops “deep inside” the enclave while ensuring the release of hostages.

A Palestinian source said the initial hostage-prisoner exchange could take “several days,” depending on Israel’s withdrawals, a halt to bombardment, and suspension of air operations. Negotiators are also expected to agree on the timing of a temporary truce, under which 47 hostages in Gaza would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has offered to assist with the exchanges and ensure humanitarian access to Gaza, where the UN has declared a famine.

“The war has destroyed everything I built throughout my life,” said Mohammed Abu Sultan, 49, who fled Gaza City with his family to Nuseirat camp. “We have been running from death for two years.”

A Hamas-linked source said the group was ready to halt military operations if Israel stopped its bombardment and withdrew from Gaza City. Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warned, however, that if talks collapse, the army would “return to fighting.”

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures cited by the UN as credible.

Under Trump’s plan, Israel would release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and over 1,700 Gaza detainees in exchange for the remaining 47 hostages. Hamas, meanwhile, insists on retaining a role in Gaza’s future—something Trump’s roadmap explicitly rules out, instead proposing a technocratic administration overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“We hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu and force him to stop the war,” said Ahmad Barbakh from Al-Mawasi. “We want the prisoner exchange deal to be completed quickly so that Israel has no excuse to continue the fighting.”