Negotiators due in Egypt for Gaza talks as Trump urges quick action

CAIRO - Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are due to convene in Egypt for talks on Monday, with US President Donald Trump calling on negotiators to "move fast" to end the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip.

The envoys are set to meet in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, on the eve of the second anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war.

Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump's roadmap to end the fighting and release captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, though the details still need to be ironed out.

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the group was "very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he hoped the hostages could be released within days.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that "there have been very positive discussions with Hamas" and other parties over freeing the captives and ending the war.

The talks were "proceeding rapidly", he said, adding that "the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST".

Trump has sent two emissaries to help finalise the deal: his special envoy Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Hamas's chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Egypt late on Sunday at the head of the delegation, the group said in a statement.

The Israeli delegation will depart for Egypt on Monday, according to Netanyahu.

After months of stalled mediation efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar aimed at ending the devastating war, foreign ministers from several countries expressed optimism at the latest diplomatic push in a joint statement, calling the negotiations a "real opportunity" to achieve a sustainable ceasefire.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the discussions, saying "you can't release hostages in the middle of strikes".

Israel's continued attacks on Sunday killed at least 20 people across the Palestinian territory, according to Gaza' civil defence agency.

Cairo has said the new talks will aim to lay "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners".

HOSTAGE-PRISONER EXCHANGE

Hamas fighters are ready to "halt their military operations" once Israel halts theirs, according to a Palestinian source close to the group.

Trump has said that once the hostage-prisoner exchange is complete, "we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal".

In addition to a halt to hostilities, the US plan calls for the release of hostages, both living and dead, within 72 hours.

Palestinian 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.

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 werearrested during the war.

The next step of the plan would be a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament -- something the group has frequently described as a red line in the past.

Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the territory's future, though Trump's plan stipulates that it and other factions "not have any role in the governance of Gaza".

Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself and including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.