By Nkiruka Nnorom, with agency report
Following the peace plan proposed by the US President, Donald Trump, to end the war in Gaza, Hamas yesterday called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from both sides prepared to meet in Egypt for crucial talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year war.
Foreign ministers of several countries, including Egypt, said the talks were a real opportunity to achieve a sustainable ceasefire.
“Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions,” AFP quoted a senior Hamas official, who preferred anonymity, as saying.
The diplomatic push follows the Palestinian militant group’s positive response to US President Trump’s roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. According to Trump’s plan, in return for the hostages, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the war began.
US Secretary of State Macro Rubio on Sunday urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the discussions in Egypt.
“You can’t release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop,” Rubio told CBS News talk show “Face the Nation”.
“There can’t be a war going on in the middle of it.” Negotiators are due to gather in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that the hostages could be released within days.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the country’s delegation left on Sunday evening, with talks slated to start today — the eve of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
Cairo confirmed it would be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on “the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners”.
The White House has said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt — his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
“During communications with mediators, Hamas insisted that it is essential for Israel to halt military operations across all areas of the Gaza Strip, cease all air, reconnaissance, and drone activity, and withdraw from inside Gaza City,” a Palestinian source close to Hamas said, adding the group would “also halt their military operations” in parallel.
Militants seized 251 hostages during their October 7 attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead.
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