Deal could be reached ‘in coming days’ as top officials join Gaza peace talks

Palestinians carry plastic bottles with water in an area of a makeshift tent camp for displaced people along the shore of Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

The US’s top Middle East adviser, the prime minister of Qatar and other senior officials joined the third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt in a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.

Two officials from Arab countries said progress was made in Wednesday’s talks and that a deal could be reached in the coming days.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters in Washington he may soon be traveling to the Middle East.

“Things have moved so quickly over there we think we may need to be there pretty soon,” Mr Rubio said, but he noted “there’s still some work to be done”.

Hamas says it is seeking firm guarantees from mediators that Israel will not resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the militant group releases all the remaining hostages.

All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of the Gaza Strip destroyed.

But key parts of the peace plan still have not been agreed to, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived on Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh for the discussions, as did Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser, Ron Dermer.

Representatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were also in attendance, and a delegation from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another fringe militant group that holds an unknown number of Israeli hostages, were scheduled to arrive, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Their participation underscores the aim of the talks to encompass all Palestinian groups.

A vehicle passes in front of the International Conference Centre where Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks (AP)

A senior Hamas official, Taher Nounou, said the group has provided a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israel in return for hostages in Gaza as part of the deal.

– Trump’s peace plan

The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel on October 7 2023 that started the war and triggered Israel’s devastating retaliation.

Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.

It envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force moving in.

The territory would be placed under international governance, with Mr Trump and former UK prime minister Tony Blair overseeing it.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Wednesday in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging”.

Mr Netanyahu has already accepted Mr Trump’s plan.

Palestinians carry plastic bottles to collect water in an area of a makeshift tent camp for displaced people along the shore of Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

His office said on Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic”, framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its long-standing demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted.

Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.

Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s top negotiator, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Mr Trump and mediators that the war “will not return”.

It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.

In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Under the agreement — which Mr Trump and Mr Witkoff played a major role in brokering — the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release.

But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases.

Past rounds of negotiations have frequently fallen apart over the same obstacle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the war’s end and Mr Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until the group is destroyed.

The Trump plan attempts to resolve all the issues at once, by laying out Hamas disarmament and a post-war scenario for governing the territory with provisions for a major reconstruction campaign.

Foreign ministers from European and Arab countries will meet in Paris on Thursday to signal their support for Mr Trump’s plan and discuss the future of Gaza.