Day one of Gaza peace talks ends on ‘positive’ note in Egypt

The first day of resumed indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt ended on a positive note, amid hopes of a potential deal to implement US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war on Gaza, multiple sources told media and other media outlets.

Negotiators are set to return for more discussions on Tuesday.

Sources told media Arabic that the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday was “positive” and that a roadmap was drawn up for how the current round of talks would continue.

The Hamas delegation told mediators that Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza poses a challenge to negotiations on the release of captives, media Arabic reported.

The Hamas delegation included Hamas leaders Khalil al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin, two negotiators who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in central Doha that killed five people last month.

Talks on day one covered the proposed exchange of prisoners and captives, a ceasefire, and humanitarian aid entering Gaza, according to Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said Trump was pushing for an early exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, in a bid to build “momentum” to implement other parts of his plan to end the Gaza war.

“The technical teams are discussing that as we speak, to ensure that the environment is perfect to release those hostages,” Leavitt said, adding that teams were “going over the list of both the Israeli hostages and also the political prisoners who will be released.”

Trump, speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, said that “we have a really good chance of making a deal”, while also noting that he still has his own “red lines”.

“But I think we’re doing very well. And I think Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important”, Trump added.

media’s Rosiland Jordan reporting from Washington, DC, said that Trump had not “not given any details of how he thinks the discussions are going beyond his general positive assessment.”

“The US President also was very complimentary of the joint Arab-Turkish support to keep Hamas at the bargaining table, he was complimentary of the Israeli people and of course, he was complimentary about his own special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who was leading the US delegation in these negotiations,” said Jordan.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a real estate developer, is also reportedly part of the US delegation.

Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, meanwhile, confirmed that the talks were expected to continue on Tuesday, which marks two years since the Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,139 people and saw about 200 people taken captive.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed at least 67,160 Palestinians and wounded 169,679 in Gaza, in a war that has been described as genocidal by a United Nations inquiry, leading genocide scholars and leading human rights groups — including Israeli non-profits.

And even as the talks were held on Monday, Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinians in attacks across Gaza, including three who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to media sources.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shared a social media post late on Monday, New York time, acknowledging the two year anniversary of Hamas’s “abhorrent large-scale terror attack on Israel”, on October 7, 2023.

Guterres also said that the “recent proposal” put forward by Trump “presents an opportunity that must be seized to bring this tragic conflict to an end.”

“A permanent ceasefire and a credible political process are essential to prevent further bloodshed and pave the way for peace,” the UN chief wrote.