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One of the bloodiest conflicts in two years In our time, negotiators represent israel And hamas sat down for the second day of indirect peace talks Sharm el-Sheikh in the Egyptian resort city.
investigating both sides 20-point peace plan proposed by the US President Donald TrumpAs they take part in conversations that senior officials briefed on 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, which initially caused confusion and concern in some quarters that the process might collapse before it could begin.
In the days before the plan was announced a joint press conference organized by Trump and benjamin netanyahu, 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 “weigh in” and make changes.
Last minute change in Trump’s plan
Independent It understands that the biggest change calls for the removal of a clause that Israel not agree to bomb or attack Doha again. It was decided that the focus should be on the peace deal 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 the deal directly linked the staged withdrawal of Israeli forces to the demilitarization of the Strip, it is understood.
But despite these unexpected amendments, negotiations began in the resort town at 6pm Egyptian time on Monday evening, kicking off with four hours of meetings with a break for dinner. Talks continued on Tuesday morning.
This was a tentative start, but was described as “positive” by those briefed on the goings-on, with “both sides negotiating in good faith”.
Interestingly, the highest level representatives from each side were not present, along with representatives from the mediating countries, including Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye.
Some of those who attended, including Witkoff, Kushner and Ron Dermer, Israel’s negotiating chief and minister of strategic affairs, were apparently in Egypt but not yet in the negotiating rooms. This was because, at least on the Israeli side, there is caution, with an official voice concerned about whether or not Hamas was “serious”.
Instead, technical teams got to grips with the nuts and bolts of planning.
delivery timeline
Trump has been more positive about the talks, suggesting that “tremendous progress” has been made and a deal is imminent. There has been “optimism” on the ground, but it has been checked by the reality that delivering this complex deal will take more than a few days.
Right now, “we are grappling with the details in terms of where and when”, said an official on the talks. Independent,
“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,” the official warned.
Trump’s plan is being treated more like a guidebook of ideas rather than a finished product. And so, like the last ceasefire deal in January, the new deal will involve at least three phases – but with one important difference.
The January agreement only set out the concrete details of phase one, with an understanding that the specifics of the next steps would be negotiated as the first phase progresses. But this ceasefire never went beyond the first phase, collapsing in March. At the time, Israel and Hamas blamed each other, and Middle East diplomats reported Independent That Israel simply “never showed up” to discuss how to proceed further.
To avoid this happening again, negotiators may want to lay out all the timelines and action plans ahead of time.
“The difference from the previous round is that it is aimed at something broader that includes pre-agreed phases before its implementation, rather than during prolonged negotiations for phase two, like we called for in the January deal,” said an official with knowledge of the talks.
“This deal is designed to reassure both parties that it is comprehensive. And once we enter phase one and both parties are committed to what is required of them, we move on to phase two.”
Phase one: hostage-prison release and partial Israeli withdrawal
Independent It understands that the deal would open with discussions on what are being referred to as “triggers”, an immediate cease-fire, then Hamas militants releasing the remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, which, according to the latest draft, would leave about 2,000 Palestinians, as well as forty-one people, freed from captivity. Gaza, currently held by Israel, could also be returned.
This would coincide with another key part of phase one: an early withdrawal of Israeli troops beyond what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly referred to as the “yellow line”.
Israeli media have described the “yellow line” at some points, as being a good 6 km inside Gaza, which would mean Israeli troops would still occupy cities such as Rafah along the border with Egypt, and in the north – areas such as Beit Lahiya.
But officials briefed on the talks said the map has yet to be finalized, as have the timeline and practical aspects of that withdrawal – a topic that was on the table today.
Egyptian officials said that Al Akhbar The newspaper reports that one of the main concerns among Israeli officials is the question of who will administer Gaza during the initial days of its troops moving out of areas of the Strip: Israel has refused to allow Hamas any on-the-ground responsibility, even temporarily.
Phase two: ‘Handover of governance’
Phase two would see a “full handover of governance”, hence the introduction of an interim body of Palestinian technocrats tasked with the day-to-day running of management of the territory, what Trump has called a “peace board”, chaired by US President and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Palestinian officials have expressed concerns about the makeup of this transitional body, and who else would 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 vetted Palestinian police force.
The focus of the discussions on phase two will be the structure of the “technocratic” government. Officials in the Middle East region clarified that “there is consensus across the board that Palestine should be governed by the Palestinians themselves”. They also believe it should pave the way for a handover to a “reformed” Palestinian Authority (PA), the internationally recognized body anchored in the occupied West Bank.
Step Three: Palestinian State?
But perhaps the most bitter sticking point is the path to a Palestinian state, of which Palestinians have to be part of the final stage. It is supported by major Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including mediators Egypt and Qatar. The UK and other European countries have recently recognized Palestine.
But the state is only vaguely referenced in Trump’s plan — not as an objective or a promise, but as something that could be explored as “PA reforms.
During the press conference to announce the plan, Netanyahu made it abundantly clear that Israel does not support a Palestinian state. He also talked about Israel maintaining “security responsibility” in the region. This was at odds with Hamas’s own statement, in which the terrorist group accepted parts of the deal and declared it a path to Palestinian self-determination.
As the talks grind on, there is a long way to go, but “there is definitely hope”, the official said.
“Given the discussions that are taking place and the detailed and lengthy proposal,” he said, “I think there is a good understanding now within the building that this is the closest we will ever get, and both sides are now negotiating in good faith.”