Khaberni - Egypt hosts Israeli and Hamas negotiators on Monday to discuss the issue of releasing detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel in the context of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in the sector, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hope for the return of the detainees within days.
This diplomatic effort comes days after Hamas announced its readiness to release detainees as part of Trump's proposal to end the war, which is about to enter its third year.
In Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced on Saturday that he had asked his negotiating delegation to head to Egypt, which is mediating this file, "to finalize the technical details."
Cairo News Channel reported that Hamas and Israel will conduct indirect talks in Cairo about "arranging the field conditions for the exchange process for all detainees and prisoners according to Trump's proposal."
A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Egypt, according to a statement issued by the movement to participate in indirect talks with Israel.
The movement's statement said the delegation arrived "to start negotiations on mechanisms for a ceasefire, withdrawal of occupation forces, and exchange of prisoners" in Gaza.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his negotiating delegation would head to Egypt on Monday to conduct talks.
Hamas confirmed on Sunday its eagerness to start "immediately" the process of exchanging detainees in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, with both parties ready for indirect talks on Monday in Egypt following the movement's approval to release detainees in Gaza as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to end the war.
A source close to Hamas mentioned that the movement is seeking to amend some clauses of the U.S. President’s peace plan in Gaza, including the clause on disarmament and the departure of its fighters from the sector.
The U.S. President warned that he "will not tolerate any delay" in implementing his plan, which stipulates stopping the war and releasing the detainees within 72 hours, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli from Gaza, disarmament of Hamas and factions, and ensuring they do not take a role in governance, with the sector being managed by a technocrat body overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump.
Later on Saturday, Trump said that Israel agreed to "an initial withdrawal line we presented to Hamas," attaching it with a map showing a withdrawal line in yellow inside the Gaza Strip, at a distance ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 kilometers from the border with Israel.
He added, "Upon Hamas’ confirmation of its approval (of this withdrawal line), a ceasefire will take effect immediately, and the exchange of hostages and detainees will begin, and we will provide the conditions for the next phase of the withdrawal."
Despite the calls for bombing to stop, Israel conducted numerous strikes on the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Despite the absence of mentions of disarming by Hamas, Netanyahu in his speech vowed to strip the movement of its weapons "diplomatically through the Trump plan, or militarily by our hands."
Despite the news of a potential breakthrough towards stopping the war raising hopes in Gaza, where humanitarian conditions had reached a catastrophic level prompting the United Nations to declare famine in August, despair returned with the continuation of Israeli bombing.
The toll of the occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 67,074 martyrs and 169,430 injured, since the seventh of October 2023.
The ministry explained that an additional 720 martyrs had been added to the cumulative statistics of martyrs, whose data had been completed and approved by the judicial committee monitoring the notifications and missing files.
