Hamas declared on Tuesday that it is ready to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, though it maintained key conditions, as senior American and Qatari officials traveled to Egypt to join renewed ceasefire negotiations.
The statement came on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which triggered Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza.
The conflict has since killed at least 67,000 people in the enclave, according to Gaza authorities, while Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the assault.
Trump, speaking in Washington, said he was “optimistic” about progress toward a Gaza deal. “I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East beyond just Gaza,” he told reporters before his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner departed for talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a key mediator, is set to join Wednesday’s negotiations “to push forward the Gaza ceasefire plan and hostage release agreement,” according to an official statement.
A source close to the talks said Tuesday’s discussions had been “more positive” than Monday’s, describing Wednesday as a decisive day for potential progress.
Top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told Egypt’s Al Qahera News TV that the group was participating in “serious and responsible negotiations,” but needed a “guarantee” that any truce would end the war and prevent its recurrence.
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said the group’s delegation in Egypt was working to “overcome all obstacles” and that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the start of reconstruction under a Palestinian “national technocratic body.”
Israel, however, has rejected such terms, insisting Hamas must disarm, a demand the group refuses.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while avoiding direct comment on the negotiations, said on X that Israel remained in “fateful days of decision,” reiterating the country’s war aims: “the return of all the hostages, the elimination of Hamas’ rule, and ensuring Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
U.S. officials said Washington’s focus is initially on halting the fighting and arranging the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military operations have continued, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and drawing global condemnation.
Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced, and international rights groups and U.N. experts have described Israel’s campaign as genocidal, a charge Israel denies, calling its actions self-defense.
Across the world, demonstrations and vigils marked the war’s second anniversary. Pro-Palestinian rallies and events remembering Israeli victims took place in cities including Sydney, Istanbul, London, Washington, Paris, Geneva, Athens, and Stockholm.
At the White House, Trump met Edan Alexander, the dual Israeli-American citizen who was believed to be the last surviving U.S. hostage before his release in May.
In Israel, families of victims gathered at sites attacked in 2023, including the Nova music festival grounds, where 364 people were killed.
“They were supposed to get married on Valentine’s Day,” said Orit Baron, standing beside a photo of her daughter Yuval and her fiancé, both killed in the massacre.
In Gaza, civilians expressed exhaustion and fragile hope. “It’s been two years that we are living in fear, horror, displacement and destruction,” said 49-year-old Mohammed Dib. “We just want this war to end.”
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
