🔗 Share this article

News Agency

Mediated discussions working toward a comprehensive deal on a American ceasefire proposal to stop the conflict in Gaza have begun in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials have stated that the meetings are concentrating on "establishing the groundwork" for a possible exchange that would see the liberation of all Israeli hostages in compensation of a number of Palestinian prisoners.

The group stated it consents to the negotiation framework in part, but has not responded to several key demands - including its military demobilization and future role in Gaza.

Israel's prime minister said on recently that he expected to reveal the release of hostages "in the coming days"

Historical Framework

The negotiations, which will see Middle Eastern officials conducting mediation with representatives from both the two sides separately, take place on the eve of the 24-month point of the armed assault on Israeli territories on the initial attack date, in which approximately 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 individuals were captured.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in countermeasure. Following the initial attack, over 67,000 have been fatally injured by defense force actions in Gaza, as reported by the area's Hamas-run health ministry.

Initiative Components

The 20-point plan, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlines an immediate end to hostilities and the release of 48 hostages, only a portion are considered surviving, in return for multiple hundreds of detained Gazans.

The framework requires that once all involved approve the proposal "full aid will be promptly delivered into the Gaza Strip"

It also declares that the organization would have no role in political leadership, and it permits an future Palestinian sovereignty.

Current Situation

In the latest development, Hamas responded to the initiative in a declaration, in which the group consented "to release all captured individuals, both surviving and deceased, in accordance with the exchange formula outlined in the American plan" - if the proper conditions for the swaps are satisfied.

It omitted reference to or approve the detailed initiative but said it "restates its approval to relinquish the administration of the Palestinian territory to a Palestinian body of technocrats, based on Palestinian national consensus and regional endorsement"

The statement failed to address of one of the essential conditions of the plan – that the militant group consent to its weapons surrender and to having no future involvement in the governance of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Many Palestinians portrayed Hamas' response to the negotiation initiative as unexpected, after an extended period of indications that the organization was likely to refuse or at least heavily condition its endorsement of Trump's peace plan proposal.

Instead, Hamas refrained from including its customary boundaries in the formal declaration, a action many view as a sign of international influence.

International and regional officials have supported the plan. The local administration, which controls areas of the disputed regions, has characterized the US president's efforts as "sincere and determined"

Iran - which has been one of the organization's key backers for many years - has also now signalled its endorsement of the US proposal.

Ongoing Reality

Military strikes carried on in various locations of the Gaza Strip on Monday before the negotiations starting.

Israeli forces is conducting an military operation in the urban area, which it has stated is intended to obtaining the freeing of the remaining hostages.

Mahmoud Basal, representing the territory's civil protection agency, stated that "assistance vehicles have been authorized access for Gaza City since the campaign commenced one month prior"

"Victims remain we cannot access from zones under military occupation" he stated.

Hundreds of thousands of the metropolitan area have been forced to flee after the armed services mandated relocations to a established protection region in the south, but additional numerous individuals are thought to have stayed.

Israel's defence minister has cautioned that those who persist during the military operation would be "combatants and their sympathizers"

In the recent period, 21 Palestinians have been fatally injured in Gaza and a another 96 harmed, the regional health administration said in its latest update.

Foreign correspondents have been restricted by Israeli authorities from visiting the Gaza Strip autonomously since the start of the hostilities, making verifying claims from both sides problematic.