Hamas says on war anniversary it's ready to reach Gaza deal, but conditions remain
A source close to the talks said they had adjourned for the day and the atmosphere was better than Monday
Highlights:
- Qatari PM and senior US mediators to join talks on Gaza in Egypt on Weds
- Hamas says needs a 'guarantee' to end the war and ensure 'it is not repeated'
- Talks have adjourned until Wednesday
Hamas said on Tuesday it was ready to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on President Donald Trump's plan but still has demands, as Qatar's prime minister and senior US mediators headed to Egypt to join indirect negotiations between the Palestinian militant group and Israel.
On the second anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel that triggered Israel's assault on Gaza, Trump expressed optimism about progress toward a Gaza deal. A US team including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and his Middle East envoy during his first term, left for the talks.
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"I think there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East" beyond just Gaza, Trump told reporters in Washington.
A source close to the talks said they had adjourned for the day and the atmosphere was better than Monday. Negotiations on Wednesday would be a decisive indicator of whether progress was possible given the presence of the senior mediators, the source said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani of Qatar, a key mediator, will join Wednesday's talks, an official said, "with the aim of pushing forward the Gaza ceasefire plan and hostage release agreement".
On the second day of talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, top Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya told Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV the group had come "to engage in serious and responsible negotiations."
He said Hamas was ready to reach a deal, yet it needed a "guarantee" to end the war and ensure "it is not repeated".
According to Gaza authorities, some 67,000 people have been killed and the Palestinian enclave has been devastated by Israel's assault that followed the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militants. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages in the Hamas attack.
The talks appeared to hold the most promise yet of ending the war. But officials on all sides urged caution over the prospects for a rapid agreement, as Israelis remembered the bloodiest single day for Jews since the Holocaust and Gazans voiced hope for an end to the suffering brought by Israel's onslaught.
Even if a deal is clinched, questions will linger over who will govern Gaza and rebuild it, and who will finance the reconstruction. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have ruled out any role for Hamas.
Hamas sets out conditions
Trump met Witkoff and Kushner, who will join the talks on Wednesday, for an update on negotiations before they departed for Egypt, a senior US official said. They discussed issues like the safety of hostages and security guarantees, the official added.
"The (Hamas) movement's delegation participating in the current negotiations in Egypt is working to overcome all obstacles to reaching an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people in Gaza," senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised statement.
He said a deal must ensure an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza - conditions that Israel has never accepted. Israel, for its part, wants Hamas to disarm, something the group rejects.
Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, a complete pullout of Israeli forces and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian "national technocratic body", he said.
Underlining the obstacles at talks, an umbrella of Palestinian factions including Hamas issued a statement vowing a "resistance stance by all means" and saying "no one has the right to cede the weapons of the Palestinian people".
Netanyahu did not comment on the status of the talks. But in a statement on X, he told Israelis they were in "fateful days of decision."
"We will continue to act to achieve all the war's objectives: the return of all the hostages, the elimination of Hamas' rule, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," he said.
US officials suggest they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees in Israel would be freed.
In the absence of a ceasefire, Israel has pressed on with its offensive in Gaza, increasing its international isolation.
Global outrage has mounted against Israel's assault, which has internally displaced nearly Gaza's entire population and set-off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after the 2023 Hamas attack.
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated around the world on Tuesday against Israel's war in Gaza while vigils and other events commemorated Israeli victims on the second anniversary of the Hamas attack.
Protests in support of Palestinians and those killed in Gaza along with vigils remembering victims of the Hamas attack took place in Sydney, Istanbul, London and Washington as well as in New York City, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Stockholm.
At the White House on Tuesday, Trump hosted Edan Alexander, who was believed to be the last surviving US hostage held in Gaza when the dual Israeli-US citizen was handed over by Hamas in May.
Hopes of a breakthrough by civilans on both sides
On the anniversary, some Israelis visited the places that were hit hardest in the Hamas attack.
Orit Baron stood at the site of the Nova music festival in southern Israel beside a photo of her daughter Yuval, who was killed with her fiance Moshe Shuva. They were among 364 people who were shot, bludgeoned or burned to death there.
"They were supposed to get married on February 14th, Valentine's Day," said Baron. "They are buried next to each other because they were never separated."
Israelis are hoping the talks will soon lead to the release of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
"It's like an open wound, the hostages, I can't believe it's been two years and they are still not home," said Hilda Weisthal, 43.
In Gaza, 49-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Dib hoped for the end of the war.
"It's been two years that we are living in fear, horror, displacement and destruction," he said.
