Palestinian Hamas and Israeli officials begin indirect discussions in the Egyptian city on American Palestinian ceasefire initiative.
News Agency
Indirect talks working toward a final agreement on a American ceasefire proposal to halt hostilities in Gaza have started in the mediation venue of the Egyptian resort town.
Middle Eastern and regional officials have indicated that the meetings are focused on "establishing the groundwork" for a anticipated transfer that would result in the release of all captured Israelis in return for a group of Palestinian prisoners.
Officials declared it accepts the negotiation framework in part, but has failed to address several crucial requirements - including its military demobilization and future role in Gaza.
The government official said on Saturday that he anticipated declaring the liberation of detained individuals "in the coming days"
Historical Framework
The negotiations, which will see Egyptian and Qatari officials facilitating discussions with teams from both Israel and Hamas in isolation, take place on the approach of the second anniversary of the military operation on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 individuals were seized.
The defense forces began military actions in Gaza in response. Following the initial attack, 67,160 have been killed by armed interventions in Gaza, according to the area's local health authorities.
Initiative Components
The 20-point plan, which has been endorsed by American leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlines an quick halt to hostilities and the liberation of 48 hostages, only 20 individuals are thought to be alive, in exchange for multiple hundreds of detained Gazans.
The plan stipulates that once the two parties agree to the proposal "full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip"
It also states that the militant group would have no participation in administering the territory, and it allows for an future Palestinian sovereignty.
Latest Updates
On Friday, the group answered to the proposal in a statement, in which the group consented "to release all captured individuals, both living and dead, in accordance with the exchange formula contained in President Trump's proposal" - if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.
It omitted reference to or endorse Trump's 20-point plan but said it "renews its agreement to relinquish the governance of the conflict zone to a Palestinian body of technocrats, founded on local agreement and Arab and Islamic support"
The statement omitted reference of one of the key demands of the plan – that the organization consent to its military demobilization and to having no future involvement in the governance of Gaza.
International Response
Gaza inhabitants described the organization's answer to the negotiation initiative as unexpected, after days of signals that the organization was likely to refuse or at least heavily condition its approval of the American initiative.
Instead, the militant group omitted its customary boundaries in the official statement, a decision many view as a sign of outside forces.
International and regional officials have welcomed the initiative. The local administration, which administers areas of the Palestinian territories, has called the US president's efforts as "sincere and determined"
The Islamic Republic - which has been one of the group's primary supporters for many years - has also currently expressed its support for the US proposal.
Ongoing Reality
Military strikes continued in various locations of the conflict zone on Monday before the negotiations starting.
Defense personnel is conducting an military operation in the metropolitan region, which it has said is intended to achieving the release of the remaining hostages.
A spokesperson, speaking for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence, stated that "assistance vehicles have been authorized access for Gaza City since the offensive began four weeks ago"
"There are still bodies we cannot access from zones under military occupation" he stated.
Countless residents of the urban center have been compelled to evacuate after the Israeli military required departures to a designated "humanitarian area" in the southern region, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.
The defense representative has admonished that those who remain during the military operation would be "combatants and their sympathizers"
In the recent period, 21 individuals have been killed in Gaza and a further 96 injured, the Hamas-run health ministry said in its latest update.
International journalists have been prohibited by Israeli authorities from visiting the conflict zone autonomously since the start of the conflict, making verifying claims from all parties difficult.