Gaza ceasefire talks resume as Trump voices optimism

The US President said striking Tehran would help secure release of hostages held by Hamas

Mourners during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. Reuters

Gaza ceasefire talks resumed in Egypt on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump declared that last weekend's US strikes against Iran's nuclear sites would help the release of hostages held by Hamas.

For its part, Hamas said the Gaza ceasefire talks “intensified in recent hours” with the participation of mediators from Egypt and Qatar.

“Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours,” senior Hamas official Taher Al Nunu told AFP. The group had “not yet received any new proposals” to bring an end to the Gaza war, now in its 21st month, he said.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Trump said the US strikes against three crucial Iranian nuclear sites would help reach a hostage deal in Gaza. “Great progress was being made on Gaza,” he added, without elaborating.

Iran and Israel on Tuesday agreed to a US-sponsored ceasefire after 12 days of war between the two Middle East sworn enemies. The war had shifted attention away from the Gaza war, where at least 56,000 Palestinians have been killed since it began in October 2023, according to authorities in the coastal territory on the eastern Mediterranean.

The war was caused by a Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities that left about 1,200 dead and another 250 taken hostage by the assailants. Israel responded with a devastating military campaign that has displaced most of the territory's 2.3 million residents and reduced much of its built-up areas to rubble.

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Sources reported that top Hamas officials, including Khalil Al Hayah, Zaher Jabareen, and Nazar Awadallah, have been holding talks with Egyptian officials since they arrived in Cairo on Monday.

A lone midlevel Israeli negotiator was also in Cairo, while a senior team from Israel's Mossad spy agency was expected later in the week, but only if the chances of making progress in the talks improve, according to the sources.

They told The National that the proposals on the table to pause the war and secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza were not different from those discussed in previous rounds, and which mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US could not get Hamas and Israel to agree to.

Hamas showing flexibility

However, said the sources, Hamas has shown some flexibility over the timeline for releasing 10 living hostages and the remains of half of those who died while in captivity, as provided for in the proposals, said the sources.

About 50 hostages remain held by Hamas, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive, according to Israel's military.

Hamas had previously insisted that it wanted to staggeringly free the 10 throughout the proposed 60-day truce to ensure Israel's compliance with the deal. Israel rejected this, insisting all 10 must be freed the day the truce goes into effect.

Hamas also wants Israel to remove its troops from designated land corridors for the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance to Gaza's Palestinians, many of whom face hunger, said the sources.

Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages. AP

It also insists that a proposed commission of independent Palestinian technocrats start running the war-battered enclave the day the truce goes into force, they added.

The sources said Hamas, however, remains adamant that a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war must be included in any deal, with the US providing a written guarantee that Israel will do that at the end of negotiations that should commence when the 60-day truce takes effect.

Israel has repeatedly stated that the war in Gaza will not end until Hamas's military and governing capabilities are dismantled and all hostages are freed.

Also on the negotiating table, said the sources, are proposals for Hamas to lay down its arms and store them, as well as the departure from Gaza of senior Hamas officials to live in exile.

Hamas, say the sources, is open to both while categorically refusing to disarm and agrees to the exile of some of its leaders but only if Israel guarantees it would not target them.