Israel and Hamas begin indirect negotiations in the Egyptian city on Trump's Gaza peace plan.
News Agency
Mediated discussions working toward a final agreement on a US peace plan to stop the conflict in Gaza have begun in the Egyptian city of the negotiation site.
Palestinian and Egyptian officials have reported that the sessions are focused on "establishing the groundwork" for a potential swap that would see the release of all Israeli hostages in return for a group of Palestinian prisoners.
The group stated it accepts the ceasefire initiative partially, but has failed to address several essential conditions - including its weapons surrender and future role in Gaza.
Israel's prime minister said on recently that he anticipated declaring the liberation of hostages "in the coming days"
Conflict Timeline
The discussions, which will feature Middle Eastern officials holding shuttle meetings with delegations from both the two sides separately, occur on the eve of the 24-month point of the military operation on Israeli territories on the initial attack date, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 individuals were taken hostage.
The Israeli military initiated operations in Gaza in retaliation. Following the initial attack, approximately 67,160 have been fatally injured by armed interventions in Gaza, based on data from the area's Hamas-run health ministry.
Initiative Components
The comprehensive proposal, which has been approved by US President Donald Trump and the Netanyahu government, outlines an quick halt to combat and the freeing of 48 detained individuals, only 20 of whom are believed to be surviving, in compensation of hundreds of detained Gazans.
The proposal specifies that once both sides accept the plan "humanitarian support will be immediately sent into the conflict zone"
It also states that the militant group would have no participation in governing Gaza, and it permits an independent Palestinian nation.
Current Situation
Recently, officials replied to the initiative in a announcement, in which the group agreed "to release all Israeli prisoners, both surviving and deceased, in accordance with the exchange formula contained in the US initiative" - if the necessary circumstances for the transfers are satisfied.
It omitted reference to or accept the detailed initiative but said it "reaffirms its commitment to transfer the administration of the Palestinian territory to a Palestinian body of independents, founded on local agreement and Arab and Islamic support"
The announcement made no mention of one of the key demands of the proposal – that Hamas consent to its weapons surrender and to playing no further role in the governance of Gaza.
Regional Reactions
Gaza inhabitants described the organization's answer to the peace plan as unexpected, after multiple days of signals that the faction was preparing to reject or at least significantly qualify its approval of Trump's peace plan proposal.
Conversely, the militant group omitted its established limits in the public announcement, a move many consider a evidence of international influence.
Global and local representatives have endorsed the proposal. The governing body, which administers parts of the Palestinian territories, has characterized the Trump administration actions as "authentic and resolute"
The Islamic Republic - which has been one of the organization's key backers for decades - has also recently indicated its backing of the American initiative.
Current Situation
Military strikes continued in multiple areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday ahead of the negotiations starting.
Israeli forces is conducting an combat campaign in the metropolitan region, which it has said is designed to securing the release of the remaining hostages.
A spokesperson, speaking for the region's civil protection agency, reported that "no aid trucks have been authorized access for the urban center since the campaign commenced four weeks ago"
"Remains persist we cannot access from areas under Israeli control" he said.
Hundreds of thousands of the urban center have been forced to flee after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a specified safe zone in the southern region, but hundreds of thousands more are considered to have persisted.
The defense representative has cautioned that those who persist during the military operation would be "terrorists and supporters of terror"
In the last 24 hours, 21 individuals have been fatally injured in Gaza and a another 96 injured, the Hamas-run health ministry said in its latest update.
Global media representatives have been prohibited by the government from visiting the Gaza Strip independently since the commencement of the war, making verifying claims from all parties difficult.