🔗 Share this article

News Agency

Indirect talks focused on achieving a final agreement on a Trump administration initiative to halt hostilities in Gaza have commenced in the Red Sea resort of the Egyptian resort town.

Local and international officials have indicated that the meetings are centered around "preparing the environment" for a potential swap that would result in the freeing of all detained individuals in exchange for a number of detained Palestinians.

The group stated it agrees to the peace plan proposals partially, but has failed to address several essential conditions - such as its weapons surrender and political participation in Gaza.

The Israeli leader said on the weekend that he anticipated declaring the release of hostages "in the coming days"

Background Context

The talks, which will involve regional and international officials holding shuttle meetings with teams from both Israel and Hamas individually, take place on the approach of the 24-month point of the armed assault on border communities on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 individuals were taken hostage.

The armed forces began military actions in Gaza in response. Since then, over 67,000 have been killed by defense force actions in Gaza, according to the area's medical administration.

Proposal Framework

The detailed initiative, which has been approved by American leadership and the Netanyahu government, proposes an immediate end to hostilities and the release of 48 captives, only 20 individuals are considered surviving, in compensation of numerous of detained Gazans.

The proposal specifies that once all involved accept the plan "humanitarian support will be promptly delivered into the Gaza Strip"

It also declares that the organization would have no involvement in administering the territory, and it leaves the door open an future Palestinian sovereignty.

Current Situation

On Friday, officials replied to the initiative in a statement, in which the group consented "to free all Israeli prisoners, both surviving and deceased, according to the transfer mechanism specified by the American plan" - if the proper conditions for the swaps are satisfied.

It failed to address or approve the detailed initiative but said it "restates its approval to relinquish the administration of the Gaza Strip to a governing council of professionals, established through regional unity and regional endorsement"

The declaration failed to address of one of the crucial requirements of the proposal – that the militant group agree to its military demobilization and to playing no further role in the administration of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Many Palestinians characterized the group's reaction to the ceasefire proposal as unanticipated, after multiple days of suggestions that the organization was considering denial or at least significantly qualify its acceptance of Trump's peace plan proposal.

Instead, the organization refrained from including its traditional "red lines" in the public announcement, a action many view as a sign of outside forces.

European and Middle Eastern representatives have supported the proposal. The local administration, which administers areas of the disputed regions, has called the US president's efforts as "sincere and determined"

The Persian nation - which has been one of the organization's key backers for decades - has also recently indicated its support for Trump's Gaza peace plan.

Present Conditions

Israeli bombardment continued in various locations of the conflict zone on the beginning of the week ahead of the talks beginning.

Defense personnel is conducting an military operation in the urban area, which it has stated is designed to achieving the freeing of the remaining hostages.

Mahmoud Basal, representing Gaza's civil protection agency, stated that "no aid trucks have been authorized access for Gaza City since the campaign commenced four weeks ago"

"There are still bodies we cannot access from locations under Israeli control" he stated.

Countless residents of the urban center have been compelled to evacuate after the defense forces required departures to a designated "humanitarian area" in the south, but further countless people are believed to have remained.

Israel's defence minister has admonished that those who remain during the military operation would be "militants and their backers"

In the last 24 hours, 21 individuals have been killed in Gaza and a another 96 wounded, the regional health administration said in its most recent report.

International journalists have been banned by the government from visiting the Gaza Strip independently since the start of the hostilities, making confirming reports from the conflicting groups difficult.