Hamas officials arrived in Egypt on Sunday to hold talks with Israel in order to finalise a ceasefire deal, release the hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza that has been continuing for two years. US President Donald Trump also said that the hostages held in Gaza will start to be freed “very soon” amid indirect peace talks between Hamas and Israel. Israeli negotiators led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer would travel to Egypt on Monday to negotiate the release of hostages in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which is part of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year old war, Reuters reported. The talks come after Hamas agreed to some of the conditions laid down in the 20-point US peace plan prepared by Trump, including release of hostages and handing over the administration of Gaza to Palestinian authorities. Though the militant group is seeking negotiations on other issues. Informing about the development, Trump in a Truth Social post wrote, “There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World this weekend, to release the Hostages, end the War in Gaza but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East.” Trump added that negotiations were advancing rapidly. “I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” the US president said. A Hamas delegation landed in Egypt on Sunday led by the group's exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, to join the US and Qatar representatives to hold talks and implement the most advanced effort yet to pause the war in the Middle East. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with NBC News on Sunday said, “We will know very quickly whether Hamas is serious or not by how these technical talks go in terms of the logistics.” (with inputs from Reuters)
