Cautious optimism at Gaza talks as Hamas hands over lists of names for swap deal

Hamas said on Wednesday it had exchanged a list of the names of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap deal and that it was optimistic about talks in Egypt on US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza.

Negotiations, to be attended by senior foreign political and intelligence officials, are focused on the mechanisms to halt the conflict, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the swap deal, the Palestinian militant group added.

One of the biggest sticking points will be pressure on Hamas to disarm, an issue it has so far been unwilling to discuss at the talks, according to a Palestinian source close to the negotiations.

The timing of the implementation of the first phase of President Donald Trump's 20-point initiative has not been agreed so far during talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Palestinian source said.

TRUMP OPTIMISTIC, WITKOFF AND KUSHNER DUE TO JOIN TALKS

Trump expressed optimism about progress towards a deal on Tuesday, the second anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel that triggered Israel's assault on Gaza.

A US team including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who served as Middle East envoy during Trump's first term, will take part in the talks over a plan that has come closest to silencing the guns.

But officials on all sides urged caution over the prospects for a rapid agreement.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's close confidant - was due to join the talks on Wednesday afternoon, according to an Israeli official. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a longstanding mediator, will also take part, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Another participant will be Turkish spymaster Ibrahim Kalin, pointing to a growing role for Turkey, a powerful NATO member which has close contacts with Hamas but which Israel has not previously viewed as a mediator. A Turkish security source said Kalin had consulted with US, Egyptian and Hamas officials.

ERDOGAN SAYS TRUMP ASKED TURKEY TO HELP PERSUADE HAMAS

President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that Trump had asked Turkey to help convince Hamas to support his plan, and that Turkey was discussing with the group the best approach for the future of a Palestinian state.

Gaza must remain part of a Palestinian state in any post-war scenario and it must be governed by Palestinians, Erdogan said. He added that the deployment of foreign forces to Gaza and ensuring security there should be discussed in detail, and Ankara was ready to contribute to all efforts.

Trump's plan calls for an international body led by Trump himself and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza's post-war administration. Arab countries which back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says will never happen.

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."
Israel, for its part, wants Hamas to disarm, which the group rejects. Hamas has said it won't hand over its weapons until a Palestinian state has been established.

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.

Even if a major breakthrough is reached, there is no clear indication yet of who will rule Gaza when the war ends. Netanyahu, Trump, Western and Arab states have ruled out any role for Hamas, which seized the territory in 2007 after a brief civil war with its Palestinian rivals.

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-defence after the 2023 Hamas attack.

According to Gaza authorities, some 67,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault. It followed the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israel's tallies.