Sharm El-Sheikh, October 6(HS): Hamas has called for an immediate start to a large-scale hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as delegations from both sides arrive in Egypt for high-stakes negotiations aimed at ending nearly two years of war in Gaza.
The talks, scheduled to begin in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, coincide with the eve of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault that triggered the conflict.
The diplomatic push follows Hamas’s favourable response to US President Donald Trump’s peace roadmap, which envisages halting hostilities, releasing hostages within 72 hours, gradually withdrawing Israeli forces from Gaza, and disarming militant factions. In exchange, Israel would free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and over 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip arrested during the war.
Trump, who has sent envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the talks, urged all parties to “move fast,” warning on social media that he would “not tolerate delay” in reaching a settlement.
“This weekend saw very positive discussions with Hamas and countries from across the Arab and Muslim worlds,” he said, adding that the first phase of the plan could be completed within the week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hope the hostages could be freed in days, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the need for an immediate halt to Israeli airstrikes to enable safe exchanges. “You can’t release hostages in the middle of strikes,” Rubio told CBS, underscoring the urgency of a ceasefire.
Hamas insists the agreement must include a full cessation of Israeli military operations in all parts of Gaza, withdrawal from Gaza City, and termination of aerial surveillance — pledging to halt its own operations in parallel.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas two years ago, Israel estimates 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 confirmed dead.
Despite the diplomatic overtures, Israeli strikes continued on Sunday, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting 20 fatalities, 13 of them in Gaza City. Residents said tanks and armoured vehicles had slightly pulled back, though they viewed it as a tactical repositioning, not a withdrawal. Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir cautioned that the military would resume full-scale operations if negotiations fail.
Trump’s proposal would also exclude Hamas and other militant factions from any role in post-war governance, with administration of Gaza handed to a technocratic authority under his transitional leadership — a stipulation the group has long rejected as a “red line.”
The war, sparked by the 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, has so far claimed at least 67,139 Palestinian lives, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations deems credible.
As the Egyptian-mediated talks begin, the region’s leaders and affected communities await a breakthrough that could halt one of the deadliest and most protracted conflicts in recent Middle Eastern history.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
