Israel
continues Gaza bombardment as Trump plan negotiators arrive in Cairo
Talks on
Monday expected to focus on release of hostages and end to war, after Israel
kills 63 people in Gaza in past day
William
Christou in Jerusalem
Sun 5 Oct
2025 18.31 BST
Negotiators
have arrived in Cairo before talks on Monday expected to focus on the release
of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and a broader end to the war, as Israel
continued strikes on the Palestinian territory, killing 63 people in the last
24 hours.
The talks
on Monday would focus on the first phase of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war
in Gaza, the Egyptian foreign ministry said, which is the release of the
remaining 48 hostages held by Hamas in return for Palestinian prisoners held in
Israel.
The US
envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to join the talks, according to Israeli media,
in addition to Israel’s negotiators and a Palestinian delegation headed by
Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas.
The
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that talks in
Egypt would be “confined to a few days maximum”.
The
hostage release and prisoner swap would mean an immediate end to fighting in
Gaza, according to Trump. Since Hamas’s partial acceptance of his plan to end
the nearly two-year war in Gaza on Friday, the US, Israel and Hamas have all
said they believe a ceasefire is within sight.
The US
secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the Cairo talks were “the closest we’ve
come to getting all the hostages released” in an interview with ABC on Sunday.
He warned that talks could still falter over logistics, however, and that
details of the hostage release needed to be worked out.
Rubio
said there were long-term challenges in implementing the deal, in particular
the creation of a technocratic governing body to oversee Gaza in place of
Hamas. He emphasised that the current priority was the hostages’ release and
ensuring Israeli troops withdrew to an agreed upon line in Gaza.
Trump’s
plan would mean Hamas releasing all hostages within 72 hours, surrendering
ruling power to a transnational authority headed by the US president, and
laying down its arms. In return, Israel would gradually withdraw its troops
from Gaza and return more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal would
release a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, parts of which are in famine, as
well as reconstruction funds.
On
Saturday night, Trump shared a map of Gaza that delineated the initial
withdrawal line of Israeli troops in Gaza, which ranged from 1.2 miles (2km) to
4 miles deep within the territory. He said if Hamas agreed to the withdrawal
line, a ceasefire would begin immediately.
Israeli
forces are meant to completely withdraw to a buffer zone at the edge of Gaza
under the terms of the plan, although the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
has said that regardless of any deal, troops would remain in most of Gaza.
Optimism
about a potential ceasefire has grown across the world, with western and Arab
leaders urging Hamas and Israel to come to a deal. On Sunday, the German
chancellor, Friedrich Merz, called Netanyahu and expressed support for the
Trump plan, describing it as “the best chance for peace”, according to a
readout.
Israeli
officials have also said they hope to announce an end to the war in the coming
days.
A senior
Hamas official told Agence France-Presse the group was “very keen to reach an
agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in
accordance with the field conditions”.
Trump
threatened Hamas with “complete obliteration” if it did not reach a deal on
Gaza in an interview with CNN. He also said Netanyahu was onboard for ending
the bombing of Gaza.
Despite
Trump’s request that Israel stop its assault and despite orders for the
military to only conduct “defensive operations”, it has continued bombing the
Palestinian territory. At least eight people were killed in separate strikes on
Gaza City, while four other people were shot dead while seeking aid in the
south of the strip.
“While
certain bombings have actually stopped inside of the Gaza Strip, there’s no
ceasefire in place at this point in time,” said Bedrosian.
At least
67,139 people have been killed and about 170,000 injured by Israel’s military
campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza ministry of health, which said roughly
half of those were women and children. Israel launched the campaign in
retaliation after an attack by Hamas-led militants that killed about 1,200
people and involved 251 others being taken hostage.
The UN
commission of inquiry, several human rights groups and the world’s leading
association of genocide scholars have concluded that Israel has committed
genocide in Gaza. Israel denies the accusation and says it has only acted in
self-defence.
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