Optimism at Sharm el-Sheikh talks amid fierce Israeli assault on Gaza
The talks aim to thrash out a plan to implement a 20-point ceasefire proposal put forward by US President Trump, to which both Israel and Hamas have responded positively.
Hamas said that "optimism" is prevailing in indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the genocidal war in Gaza, with the Palestinian resistance group submitting a list of prisoners it wants released in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages under a deal.
"The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties," senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP from Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Palestinian resistance group submitted a list of prisoners it wants to be released in the first phase of the truce "in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers", Nunu added.
In exchange, Hamas is set to release 47 hostages, both alive and dead, who were seized in its October 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel.
‘Very encouraging’
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi said Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were now in Sharm el-Sheikh, and that the word he had received since their arrival was "very encouraging".
Sisi said the US envoys came "with a strong will, a strong message, and a strong mandate from President Trump to end the war in this round of negotiations".
Sisi also invited Trump himself to travel to Egypt for a signing ceremony if a deal were reached.
At the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump told reporters, "there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East" if Hamas and Israel did agree on a ceasefire.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin are also expected at the talks on Wednesday.
Nonstop Israeli strikes
In Gaza, at least 67,183 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since October 2023, according to the Health Ministry in the Palestinian besieged enclave.
The ministry reported that 10 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, along with 61 injured, bringing the total number of wounded to 169,841.
Israel’s military resumed its genocidal war on March 18, breaking a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal that had been in place since January, killing 13,588 people and injuring 57,800 more since then. At least 2,613 of those were killed as they sought assistance.