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Hamas announced Wednesday that it has exchanged lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners for a potential swap and expressed optimism about ongoing talks in Egypt on President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
Negotiations, to be attended by senior foreign political and intelligence officials, are focused on the mechanisms to halt the conflict, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the swap deal, the Palestinian resistance group added.
One of the biggest sticking points will be pressure on Hamas to disarm, an issue it has so far been unwilling to discuss at the talks, according to a Palestinian source close to the negotiations.
The timing of the implementation of the first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point initiative has not been agreed so far during talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Palestinian source said.
Trump expressed optimism about progress toward a deal Tuesday, the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel that triggered Israel’s assault on Gaza.
A U.S. team, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who served as Middle East envoy during Trump’s first term, will take part in the talks over a plan that has come closest to silencing the guns.
But officials on all sides urged caution over the prospects for a rapid agreement.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close confidant – was due to join the talks Wednesday afternoon, according to an Israeli official. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a longstanding mediator, will also take part, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Another participant will be Turkish spymaster Ibrahim Kalın, pointing to a growing role for Türkiye, a powerful NATO member in close contact with Hamas, but which Israel has not previously viewed as a mediator. A Turkish security source said Kalın had consulted with U.S., Egyptian and Hamas officials.
Trump asked Türkiye help with Hamas
President Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters that Trump had asked Türkiye to help convince Hamas to support his plan, and that Türkiye was discussing with the group the best approach for the future of a Palestinian state.
Gaza must remain part of a Palestinian state in any post-war scenario and it must be governed by Palestinians, Erdoğan said. He added that the deployment of foreign forces to Gaza and ensuring security there should be discussed in detail, and Ankara was ready to contribute to all efforts.
Trump’s plan calls for an international body led by Trump himself and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration. Arab countries, which back the plan, say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says will never happen.
Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive cease-fire, a complete pullout of Israeli forces and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian “national technocratic body.”
Israel, for its part, wants Hamas to disarm, which the group rejects. Hamas has said it won’t hand over its weapons until a Palestinian state has been established.
U.S. officials suggest they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees in Israel would be freed.
In the absence of a cease-fire, Israel has pressed on with its offensive in Gaza, increasing its international isolation.
Even if a major breakthrough is reached, there is no clear indication yet of who will rule Gaza when Israel’s genocidal war ends. Netanyahu, Trump, Western and Arab states have ruled out any role for Hamas, which came to power in 2007 after a brief civil war with rivals, the Palestinian Authority.
Global outrage has mounted against Israel’s assault, which has internally displaced nearly Gaza’s entire population and set off a famine. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a U.N. inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after the 2023 Hamas incursion.
According to Gaza authorities, Israel’s genocide has killed over 67,000 people, mostly women and children.
