SHARM EL-SHEIKH (Reuters) – Hamas said on Wednesday it had exchanged a list of names of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap deal and that it was optimistic about negotiations in Egypt over U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
The negotiations, which will be attended by foreign political and intelligence authorities, are focused on mechanisms to stop the conflict, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the exchange agreement, the Palestinian militant group added.
One of the biggest points of friction will be the pressure on Hamas to disarm, an issue that the group has so far been unwilling to discuss in talks, according to a Palestinian source close to the negotiations.
The timing of implementing the first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point initiative has not been agreed so far during talks in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Palestinian source said.
Trump expressed optimism about progress toward a deal on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Israeli 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 negotiations on a plan that comes closer to silencing the guns.
But officials on all sides urged caution about the prospects for a quick deal.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — is expected to participate in the talks on Wednesday afternoon, according to an Israeli official. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a longtime mediator, will also attend, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Another participant will be Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, pointing to a growing role for Turkey, a powerful NATO member that has close contacts with Hamas but which Israel has not previously seen as a mediator. A Turkish security source said Kalin consulted with U.S., Egyptian and Hamas officials.
(Reportable to Tivan Gumrukcuer in Butler for Btler News, Khoukeir in Ramadan em
