🔗 Share this article

News Agency

Mediated discussions aimed at reaching a comprehensive deal on a Trump administration initiative to end the war in Gaza have commenced in the mediation venue of the negotiation site.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials have reported that the discussions are concentrating on "creating the field conditions" for a potential swap that would result in the freeing of all captured Israelis in return for a number of detained Palestinians.

The group stated it agrees to the negotiation framework to some extent, but has not responded to several essential conditions - including its military demobilization and governance position in Gaza.

The government official said on recently that he hoped to announce the freeing of detained individuals "in the coming days"

Conflict Timeline

The discussions, which will see Egyptian and Qatari officials conducting mediation with delegations from both the conflicting parties individually, occur on the eve of the second anniversary of the military operation on southern Israel on October 7th, in which approximately 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 others were seized.

The armed forces initiated operations in Gaza in retaliation. Since then, approximately 67,160 have been fatally injured by Israeli military operations in Gaza, as reported by the territory's local health authorities.

Proposal Framework

The detailed initiative, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and the Netanyahu government, proposes an prompt cessation to fighting and the freeing of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be surviving, in exchange for numerous of incarcerated individuals.

The proposal specifies that once all involved accept the proposal "full aid will be promptly delivered into the Gaza Strip"

It also specifies that the organization would have no participation in governing Gaza, and it leaves the door open an future Palestinian sovereignty.

Current Situation

On Friday, the group answered to the proposal in a statement, in which the group approved "to release all captured individuals, both surviving and deceased, in accordance with the exchange formula specified by the American plan" - if the necessary circumstances for the transfers are fulfilled.

It omitted reference to or approve the detailed initiative but said it "renews its agreement to transfer the administration of the Gaza Strip to a local administration of technocrats, founded on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support"

The declaration failed to address of one of the essential conditions of the proposal – that Hamas agree to its weapons surrender and to ceasing political participation in the governance of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Local residents described Hamas' response to the negotiation initiative as unexpected, after multiple days of signals that the group was considering denial or at least heavily condition its acceptance of Trump's peace plan proposal.

Conversely, Hamas excluded its customary boundaries in the official statement, a decision many interpret as a sign of international influence.

Global and local officials have welcomed the proposal. The governing body, which controls sections of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has characterized the Trump administration actions as "genuine and committed"

Iran - which has been one of Hamas's main sponsors for many years - has also currently expressed its backing of the US proposal.

Present Conditions

Military strikes continued in various locations of the Palestinian territory on the beginning of the week prior to the discussions commencing.

Defense personnel is conducting an combat campaign in the metropolitan region, which it has declared is designed to obtaining the release of the outstanding captives.

Mahmoud Basal, speaking for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence, indicated that "no aid trucks have been authorized access for the metropolitan area since the military operations started one month prior"

"Remains persist we cannot retrieve from areas under Israeli control" he stated.

Numerous individuals of the urban center have been forced to flee after the defense forces required departures to a specified safe zone in the southern region, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.

The military official has warned that those who stay during the military operation would be "militants and their backers"

In the last 24 hours, 21 Palestinians have been fatally injured in Gaza and a further 96 injured, the local medical authorities said in its most recent report.

International journalists have been prohibited by the government from entering the Gaza Strip autonomously since the start of the war, making verifying claims from the conflicting groups challenging.