🔗 Share this article

News Agency

Third-party negotiations working toward a comprehensive deal on a Trump administration initiative to stop the conflict in Gaza have commenced in the Red Sea resort of the negotiation site.

Middle Eastern and regional officials have reported that the discussions are focused on "preparing the environment" for a potential swap that would result in the liberation of all detained individuals in return for a group of detained Palestinians.

Officials declared it consents to the ceasefire initiative in part, but has failed to address several key demands - particularly its disarmament and political participation in Gaza.

The government official said on the weekend that he anticipated declaring the release of hostages "shortly"

Conflict Timeline

The negotiations, which will involve regional and international officials holding shuttle meetings with representatives from both Israel and Hamas in isolation, occur on the approach of the 24-month point of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on the initial attack date, in which nearly 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 people were taken hostage.

The Israeli military initiated operations in Gaza in retaliation. Since then, approximately 67,160 have been fatally injured by defense force actions in Gaza, as reported by the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Proposal Framework

The comprehensive proposal, which has been endorsed by the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government, suggests an quick halt to fighting and the liberation of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive, in compensation of multiple hundreds of incarcerated individuals.

The framework requires that once the two parties accept the initiative "humanitarian support will be promptly delivered into the Palestinian territory"

It also states that the organization would have no role in governing Gaza, and it permits an independent Palestinian nation.

Current Situation

Recently, Hamas responded to the proposal in a declaration, in which the group agreed "to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the swap arrangement contained in President Trump's proposal" - if the necessary circumstances for the transfers are met.

It did not specifically mention or accept the detailed initiative but said it "reaffirms its commitment to transfer the administration of the Palestinian territory to a Palestinian body of technocrats, founded on local agreement and regional endorsement"

The declaration made no mention of one of the key demands of the proposal – that Hamas accept its disarmament and to ceasing political participation in the governance of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Gaza inhabitants characterized the group's reaction to the negotiation initiative as unanticipated, after multiple days of indications that the organization was preparing to reject or at least substantially modify its acceptance of the American initiative.

Conversely, Hamas refrained from including its traditional "red lines" in the formal declaration, a move many view as a evidence of outside forces.

Global and local leaders have welcomed the proposal. The local administration, which governs areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has characterized the Trump administration actions as "authentic and resolute"

Iran - which has been one of Hamas's main sponsors for an extended period - has also recently indicated its endorsement of Trump's Gaza peace plan.

Current Situation

Military strikes continued in several parts of the conflict zone on recently before the negotiations starting.

Defense personnel is carrying out an combat campaign in the city, which it has stated is intended to securing the release of the still-detained individuals.

A spokesperson, speaking for the region's Hamas-run civil defence, indicated that "humanitarian convoys have been permitted entry to the urban center since the military operations started recently"

"There are still bodies we cannot access from locations under military occupation" he commented.

Hundreds of thousands of the urban center have been required to leave after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a specified safe zone in the southern region, but additional numerous individuals are believed to have remained.

The defense representative has cautioned that those who persist during the military operation would be "militants and their backers"

In the previous day, 21 residents have been fatally injured in Gaza and a further 96 injured, the regional health administration said in its most recent report.

Global media representatives have been prohibited by the government from entering the Palestinian territory autonomously since the start of the conflict, making verifying claims from the conflicting groups challenging.