Jerusalem — Cautious hope for a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages was building Monday as Israel and Hamas prepared to enter indirect negotiations in Egypt.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu said Israeli negotiators would travel to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, where the talks were scheduled to take place.
The negotiators were expected to discuss President Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, which was sparked two years ago by the Hamas-led, Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. Mr. Trump presented his plan during a press conference with Netanyahu at the White House last Monday.
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Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and many other nations, issued a statement on Friday saying it agreed to some of the key points in the plan, including releasing all the remaining hostages, living and deceased, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as to handing over control of Gaza to a technocratic international body.
But Hamas did not immediately agree to other points in Mr. Trump’s proposal, including some related to its disarmament and future role in Palestinian politics.
Mr. Trump, speaking Sunday, urged the negotiators to “move fast” in the talks in Egypt, calling ongoing discussions between Hamas and other nations in the region about the ceasefire proposal “very successful,” and saying they were “proceeding rapidly.”
“The technical teams will again meet Monday, in Egypt, to work through and clarify the final details,” Mr. Trump said of the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh. “I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST. I will continue to monitor this Centuries old ‘conflict.’ TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW – SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!”
On Monday, the Israeli Hostages Families Forum, which represents most of the families of those still missing, sent a letter to the Nobel Prize committee urging them to bestow the Nobel Peace Prize on Mr. Trump for his “unwavering commitment and extraordinary leadership” in seeking a deal to bring the remaining captives home.
The forum said it was backing Trump for a Nobel “with hearts full of gratitude and a profound sense of momentous urgency,” lauding the U.S. leader’s “determination to bring peace.”
“At this very moment, President Trump’s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and
finally end this terrible war is on the table,” the forum says in its letter. “For the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over. We are confident that he will not rest until the last hostage is brought home, the war has ended, and peace and prosperity are restored to the people of the Middle East.”
Egypt’s foreign ministry said the talks beginning Monday would focus on “establishing the necessary humanitarian and logistical conditions for implementing a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.”
According to Mr. Trump’s proposal, the exchange would see the 48 remaining Israeli hostages, about 20 of whom Israeli officials still believe to be alive, released, followed by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, 250 of whom are serving life sentences and 1,700 of whom are from Gaza and were detained after the Oct. 7 attack, set free.
The talks will also “address the details of the process in line with the plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, aimed at ending the war and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Egypt’s foreign ministry said.
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Amid the signs of a potential deal, Israeli strikes continued Sunday in Gaza, though CBS News sources said there were fewer than before Mr. Trump’s proposal was announced. The IDF said it “struck and eliminated a terrorist cell armed with explosive devices and mortars that were intended to be used in terror attacks against IDF troops in the area of Gaza City.”
An Israeli government spokesperson said Sunday that “certain bombings have actually stopped inside of the Gaza Strip,” but they added that there is “no ceasefire in place at this point in time.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Israel’s bombing of Gaza would need to stop for the remaining hostages to be released.
“I’d give it a 50% shot of happening, because both sides feel the pressure to get this done. Israel feels the pressure from the U.S., and Hamas feels the pressure from Qatar, from Turkey, from Egypt, from Jordan, and from Saudi Arabia,” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Alon Pinkas told CBS News on Monday, referring to the possible hostage and prisoner swap. “As for the rest of the plan, the likelihood goes down from 50% to maybe 10%. I just doubt it’s going to happen. Even this phase is going to be as ambiguous and amenable to interpretations, and I don’t see it going smoothly.”
Ohad Ben Ami, who was captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack and released in a prisoner swap in February, said over the weekend at an event organized by the hostages families’ group that he was eager for a deal to get done.
“Now it seems like there is hope,” Ben Ami said, adding that he had felt betrayed by Israel’s government.
“I love my country, and I love the people, but our government is disconnected. And until now, I have the feeling of insult. I feel that they abandoned me,” he said.
During his time in captivity, Ben Ami was first held above ground in a series of apartments in Gaza before being moved down into Hamas’ vast tunnel network underneath the Palestinian territory, where he said he and other hostages were kept in squalid conditions and not given enough to eat.
“I’m here with you. I speak and I talk, but in my mind, I’m down there,” Ben Ami said at the Sunday event. “Until they … come back, all the 48 (remaining hostages), I cannot live. I’m still a hostage. I’m a free man, but not in my soul.”
