Negotiators from Israel and Hamas are meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the second day of indirect talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza. US President Donald Trump stated that Hamas has “agreed to some very important points,” while the White House is avoiding setting a timeline for the process but wants an agreement “quickly.”<\/p>\n
Two sources close to Hamas’s negotiating team told AFP that the talks in Egypt have been “positive” so far and that negotiations would resume at noon.<\/p>\n
One of the sources said, “Last night’s talks were positive; the first round lasted four hours.”<\/p>\n
According to the Egyptian state channel Al-Qahera, the first round of talks was also completed “positively,” with reports that the parties are working to create a framework for a mechanism to exchange hostages and prisoners.<\/p>\n
An Arab diplomat told\u00a0The Times of Israel<\/em>\u00a0that reaching an agreement could take several days, or even longer.<\/p>\n A report from Israel’s i24NEWS, citing an unnamed Israeli official, stated that they are facing a “critical 48 hours in the negotiations.”<\/p>\n A report on Israeli state television KAN suggested that “a positive atmosphere prevails in both Israel and the US, and an agreement could be reached by next Sunday.”<\/p>\n Trump ‘quite confident’<\/strong><\/p>\n US President Donald Trump said, “Hamas has agreed on important issues, there is a good chance for a deal.” When asked by journalists if there were red lines for Hamas in the negotiations, Trump replied, “Yes. If some things are not met, we will not do it. But I think we are doing quite well. Hamas has agreed to some very important things.”<\/p>\n Trump stated he was “quite confident” that a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement would happen soon, adding that Hamas has been behaving “well” recently. “I think we will reach an agreement… They have been trying to make a deal regarding Gaza for literally centuries,” he said.<\/p>\n Referring to the weekly protests in Israel attended by tens of thousands demanding the release of hostages and an end to the war, Trump said, “The people of Israel want this to happen.”<\/p>\n Reiterating that his agreement goes beyond ending the war in Gaza and aims for broader regional peace, Trump emphasized the support for his proposal from the Arab and Muslim world. “I spoke with Turkish President Erdo\u011fan. Wonderful. He is trying very hard [for the Gaza deal]… and Hamas has great respect for him. They also have great respect for Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia,” said Trump, adding that he had also spoken with the King of Jordan.<\/p>\n White House wants the agreement to be completed ‘quickly’<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump is represented in the talks, held in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, by his special representative Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. A US official told Channel 12 that neither of them would leave Egypt until an agreement is reached between Israel and Hamas.<\/p>\n The unnamed senior US official stated that Washington wants to reach an agreement this week on the proposal to end the Gaza war. However, the White House has refrained from publicly announcing a timeline, despite persistent questions from journalists about how long the talks in Egypt will last.<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “It is important that we complete this quickly so that we can gain momentum, get the hostages out, and then move on to the next phase of this: ensuring a lasting and sustainable peace in Gaza and ensuring that Gaza is no longer a place that threatens the security of Israel or the US.”<\/p>\n “The administration is working very hard to move things forward as quickly as possible. The President wants to see a ceasefire. He wants the hostages released,” said Leavitt, adding, “They are going over the lists of both the Israeli hostages and the political prisoners to be released.”<\/p>\n A reporter, suggesting that Palestinian society has been “radicalized,” asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who they would want as Palestinian technocrats in the transitional government that will govern post-war Gaza. Leavitt replied, “We are not there yet.”<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump had announced a 20-point plan on September 29 that included the release of Israeli prisoners and a ceasefire in Gaza. On October 3, Hamas stated that it accepted the prisoner exchange in Trump’s Gaza plan but that some other points needed to be negotiated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Negotiators from Israel and Hamas are meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the second day of indirect talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza. US President Donald Trump stated that Hamas has “agreed to some very important points,” while the White House is avoiding setting a timeline for the process but wants an agreement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13559,319,582,1334,294,503,7476,812,12566,7586,2470,839,5331,2325],"class_list":["post-11704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middleeast","tag-ceasefire-talks","tag-donald-trump","tag-egypt","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-headline","tag-hostage-exchange","tag-israel","tag-jared-kushner","tag-karoline-leavitt","tag-prisoner-exchange","tag-sharm-el-sheikh","tag-steve-witkoff","tag-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\n