SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Hamas said on Tuesday it was prepared to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza under a framework based on former U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan, but maintained that several conditions must still be met.
The announcement came as Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and senior U.S. mediators, including Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, traveled to Egypt to join indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
On the second anniversary of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, Trump expressed optimism about prospects for peace. “I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East beyond just Gaza,” he told reporters at the White House.
Negotiations resumed in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with sources describing Tuesday’s discussions as more positive than those held the previous day. Talks on Wednesday are expected to be crucial, as senior mediators arrive to push for a breakthrough.
Qatar, a key intermediary throughout the conflict, aims to advance both the Gaza ceasefire plan and the hostage release agreement, an official familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Top Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya said in an interview with Egypt’s Al Qahera News TV that the group had come “to engage in serious and responsible negotiations,” stressing that Hamas sought a “guarantee” to ensure the war would end and “not be repeated.”
According to Gaza authorities, around 67,000 people have been killed since the 2023 assault, which left much of the territory in ruins. Israel says 1,200 of its citizens were killed and 251 taken hostage during the initial attack.
While officials described the talks as the most promising since the war began, they also urged caution, noting that major political and security challenges remain. Questions persist over who would govern Gaza after the conflict, how reconstruction would be funded, and whether Hamas would retain any role in postwar governance, something both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have rejected.
“The (Hamas) movement’s delegation participating in the current negotiations in Egypt is working to overcome all obstacles to reaching an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people in Gaza,” senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised statement.
Barhoum reiterated that Hamas would only agree to a deal that ensures an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the start of a comprehensive reconstruction process overseen by a Palestinian “national technocratic body.” Israel, however, insists on Hamas’ disarmament as a condition the group refuses.
Netanyahu, for his part, said Israelis were in “fateful days of decision.” In a statement on X, he reaffirmed Israel’s goals: “We will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives — the return of all the hostages, the elimination of Hamas’s rule, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
U.S. officials indicated that the immediate focus of talks would be on securing a temporary halt to the fighting and working out the logistics of exchanging hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
As negotiations continued, Israel pressed ahead with its military operations in Gaza, deepening its diplomatic isolation. Protests condemning Israel’s actions took place in Sydney and several European cities on the anniversary of the 2023 attack, despite criticism from some officials who said such demonstrations risked glorifying violence.
In Israel, families of victims marked the grim anniversary with memorial visits. Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval and her fiancé were among the 364 people killed at the Nova music festival, said, “They were supposed to get married on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. They are buried next to each other because they were never separated.”
Meanwhile, 43-year-old Israeli Hilda Weisthal said the unresolved hostage crisis remains “an open wound,” adding, “I can’t believe it’s been two years and they are still not home.”
In Gaza, 49-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Dib expressed hope that the talks would bring an end to the suffering. “It’s been two years that we are living in fear, horror, displacement and destruction,” he said.
