CAIRO: Senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nounou said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel have exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.
Al-Nounou also said Hamas expressed optimism about reaching a deal, stating that the group has demonstrated the necessary positivity.
Qatar’s prime minister and senior delegates from the United States and Turkiye joined Hamas and Israeli negotiators on Wednesday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the Gaza war.
Israel and Hamas are holding indirect negotiations in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, based on a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump last month.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkiye’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are all due to attend the talks.
“There’s a real chance that we could do something,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, adding that US negotiators were also involved in the talks.
“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It’s something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately.”
Trump said the United States would do “everything possible to make sure everyone adheres to the deal” if Hamas and Israel do agree on a ceasefire.
Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and Israeli hostage families still longing for their loved ones’ return.
A UN probe accused last month Israel of genocide.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined pro-Palestinian mass demonstrations in cities across the world last weekend, calling for an immediate end to the war, including in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Britain.
Demonstrators in the Netherlands called for their government to recognize a Palestinian state, while tens of thousands in Britain defied Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s calls to skip rallies, holding vigils and gatherings on the October 7 anniversary.
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Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, said the Islamist group wants “guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all.”
Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The plan received positive responses from both Israel and Hamas and prompted indirect talks in Egypt since Monday.
A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team said Tuesday’s session included Hamas discussing “the initial maps presented by the Israeli side regarding the withdrawal of troops as well as the mechanism and timetable for the hostage-prisoner exchange.”
US representatives Witkoff and Kushner were expected to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, after they were initially expected to arrive last weekend.
“The primary guarantee of success at this stage is US President Trump himself... even if it comes to a point to require him imposing a vision,” he said.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the health ministry in the territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
With Agencies
