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Two years of one of the bloodiest conflicts of our time, the negotiators are representing israel And Hamas sat down for the second day of indirect peace talks In the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Both sides are investigating 20 point peace plan proposed by the US President donald trumpBecause they participate in the negotiations they are briefed by senior officials about the discussions Independent “The closest we’ve ever been” to the end of the war.
The deal – originally 21 points long – was first presented to leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority countries in New York last month. This was changed at the 11th hour, initially causing confusion and concern in some quarters that the process might fail before it had even begun.
a few days before the plan was announced a joint press conference organized by Trump and benjamin netanyahuThe Israel The prime minister attended a lengthy meeting in Washington DC with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, where he reportedly had the opportunity to “shove aside” and make changes.
Last minute change in Trump’s plan!
Independent Understands that the biggest change made was the removal of the point demanding that Israel agree not to bomb or attack Doha again. It was decided that attention should be paid to the peace agreement GazaAnd Trump insisted that Netanyahu participate in a trilateral call with Doha in which he would apologize to the Qatari leadership.
Changes were also made to ensure that the disarmament of Hamas was a key condition, and it is understood that the deal directly links the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces to the demilitarization of the Strip.
But despite these unexpected amendments, talks resumed in the resort town at 6pm Egyptian time on Monday, starting with four hours of meetings with a dinner break. The talks continued on Tuesday morning also.
This was a tentative start, but those briefed on ongoing activities described it as “positive”, adding that “both sides are negotiating in good faith”.
Interestingly, representatives of the mediating countries, including Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, as well as the highest level representatives of each party were not present.
Some of the participants, including Witkoff, Kushner and Ron Dermer, Israel’s negotiating chief and strategic affairs minister, were apparently in Egypt but not yet in the negotiating room. This was because, at least on the Israeli side, caution is being exercised, with one official expressing concern over whether Hamas is “serious”.
Instead, technical teams understood the basics of planning.
delivery lead time
Trump has been extremely positive about the talks and suggested that “tremendous progress” has been made and that an agreement will be reached soon. There is “optimism” on the ground, but there is a reality check that this complex deal will take more than a few days to complete.
Giving information about the talks, an official said that right now, “specifics in terms of where and when” are being discussed. Independent,
The official warned, “Both Hamas and Israel agree on the basic principles of the 20-point plan. The current round of talks focuses on dealing with specific details, which has been a lengthy process in the past.”
Trump’s plan is being treated more like a guidebook of ideas rather than a finished product. And so, like the previous ceasefire agreement in January, the new agreement will involve at least three phases – but with one important difference.
The January agreement only provided concrete details of phase one, with the understanding that the specifics of further phases would be negotiated as the first phase progressed. But that ceasefire never progressed beyond the first phase, breaking down in March. Middle East diplomats reported that at the time, Israel and Hamas accused each other Independent Israel simply “never came around” to discussing how to proceed with this.
To avoid this happening again, negotiators want to set out all deadlines and action plans ahead of time.
“The difference with previous rounds is that the aim is to have something comprehensive that includes pre-agreed steps before its implementation, rather than lengthy negotiations for phase two during phase one, as we did in the January deal,” said an official with knowledge of the talks.
“This deal is designed to give both parties assurance that it is comprehensive. And once we enter phase one and both parties have committed to their requirements, we move on to phase two.”
Phase One: Hostage-prisoner release and partial Israeli withdrawal
Independent Understands that the talks began with discussions on what is being called a “trigger” for the deal: an immediate ceasefire, then Hamas militants releasing the remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, which would result, according to the latest draft, in the release of about 2,000 Palestinians serving life sentences along with those detained from October 2023. During that period, the remains of more than 700 dead Palestinians were found. Gaza, which is currently under Israeli occupation, can also be returned.
This would coincide with another important part of phase one: the early withdrawal of Israeli troops across what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly referred to as the “yellow line”.
Israeli media at some points described the “yellow line” as being a good 6 km inside Gaza, which would mean that Israeli forces would still hold cities such as Rafah on the border with Egypt and areas such as Beit Lahiya in the north.
But officials briefed on the talks said the map has not yet been finalized, as well as the timeline and practical aspects of that withdrawal – a topic that was on the table today.
Egyptian officials told Al Akhbar According to the newspaper, one of the main concerns among Israeli officials is the question of who will administer Gaza during the initial days of their troops’ withdrawal from areas of the Strip: Israel has refused to allow Hamas any ground responsibility, even temporarily.
Step two: ‘Handing over the reins’
Phase two will see a “full handover of governance”, hence introducing an interim body of Palestinian technocrats tasked with managing the day-to-day running of the territory, what Trump has called a “peace board”, chaired by the US President himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Palestinian officials have expressed concerns over the composition of this transitional body and who else will sit on the peace board.
Phase two would also see the initial deployment of an “International Stabilization Force”, as outlined in Trump’s plan – a group consisting of foreign and potentially Arab personnel who would train a verified Palestinian police force.
Phase two of the discussion will focus on the structure of “technical” government. Officials in the Middle East region made it clear that “all sides agree that the Palestinians should be ruled by the Palestinians”. They also believe it should pave the way for the handover to a “reformed” Palestinian Authority (PA), an internationally recognized body based in the occupied West Bank.
Step Three: Palestinian Statehood?
But perhaps the most bitter problem is the path to Palestinian statehood, the final stage of which Palestinians want to be a part. It is supported by major Arab and Muslim-majority countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar. Britain and other European countries have recently recognized Palestine.
But statehood is only vaguely referenced in Trump’s plan – not as an objective or promise, but as something that could be explored if “PA” is reformed.
During the press conference to announce the plan, Netanyahu made it clear that Israel does not support a Palestinian state. He also spoke of Israel retaining “security responsibility” over the region. This was in contrast to Hamas’s own statement, in which the militant group had nominally accepted parts of the agreement and declared it a path to Palestinian self-determination.
As talks progress, there is still a long way to go, but “there is definitely hope,” the official said.
He added, “Given the discussions that are taking place and the detailed and lengthy proposal, I think there is now a good understanding within the building that this is the closest it has ever been, and both sides are now negotiating in good faith.”