SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Indirect negotiations are taking place in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh to finalize a US-proposed peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza, with the release of all Israeli hostages as a central focus.
Palestinian and Egyptian officials informed the BBC that the current meetings are concentrated on “creating the conditions” for a potential exchange that would see the release of all Israeli hostages.
Hamas has indicated partial agreement with the proposals but has not yet addressed several key demands, including its disarmament and its future role in Gaza.
Bashara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman with direct contact with senior Hamas officials in Qatar, suggested the movement might be willing to offer more concessions during the ongoing talks. Speaking to the BBC World Service’s News Hour, Bahbah stated, “Twenty of the hostages have been confirmed alive, and the terms for their release will be determined during the talks between Hamas and Israel this week.”
He added that the return of the bodies of 28 other hostages would be “more complicated.” Explaining the difficulty, he said, “Some of the bodies are unaccounted for because the people who buried them were killed. So they don’t know where they are, and they will have to search for them.”
The Israeli Prime Minister said on Saturday that he hopes to announce the release of hostages “in the coming days.”
Egyptian and Qatari officials are meeting separately with delegations from both Israel and Hamas. The talks coincide with the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 others being taken hostage.
In response, the Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, over 67,000 people have been killed in the ensuing Israeli military operations.
These negotiations are anticipated to be the most significant since the war began and could determine whether a path to ending the conflict has finally been found.
Key figures attending the talks include US Special Representative Steve Witkoff, former White House advisor Jared Kushner, and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
(Source: BBC)