Trump’s son-in-law set to join third day of Gaza peace talks

Israel and Hamas have entered a third day of peace talks in Egypt, with more senior officials from the United States and mediating countries expected to join.

Hamas says it is seeking firm guarantees from US President Donald Trump and mediators that Israel will not resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the militant group releases all the remaining hostages.

All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war, with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and most of the Gaza Strip destroyed.

But key parts of the peace plan have still not been pinned down — including requirements that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and the creation of an international body to run Gaza after Hamas steps down from power.

Qatar’s prime minister and top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was heading to the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh to join the talks.

Also expected on Wednesday were Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to a US official.

From Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser Ron Dermer was also to join, an Israeli official said.

As Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met both sides in preliminary talks on Wednesday morning, a senior Hamas official, Taher Nounou, said the group has exchanged a list of Palestinian prisoners it seeks to release in return for Israeli hostages under the deal’s terms.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their October 7 2023 surprise attack on Israel that started the war and triggered Israel’s devastating retaliation. Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.

It envisages Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force being put in place. The territory would be placed under international governance, with Mr Trump and former UK prime minister Tony Blair overseeing it.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Wednesday in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging”.

Mr Netanyahu has accepted Mr Trump’s plan. His office said on Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic”, framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its long-standing demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted. Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.

Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s top negotiator, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Mr Trump and mediators that the war “will not return”. It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.

In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Under the agreement the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release.

But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases.

Past rounds of negotiations have frequently fallen apart over the same obstacle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the war’s end and Mr Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until the group is destroyed.

The Trump plan attempts to resolve all the issues at once, by laying out Hamas disarmament and a post-war scenario for governing the territory with provisions for a massive reconstruction campaign.