Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan
Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
What happened
Hamas negotiators arrived in Egypt Sunday for indirect negotiations with Israel prompted by President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war. Hamas accepted the general terms of the plan on Friday, including the release of all remaining hostages, living and dead. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address Saturday that he hoped to announce the hostages’ release “in the coming days.”
Who said what
These negotiations are “expected to be among the most consequential since the start of the war,” the BBC said, and Hamas’ willingness to “enter the talks without explicit conditions” may be a “recognition of its limited leverage after nearly two years of war.” Netanyahu “took much personal credit” for the emerging plan, The New York Times said, but it was “abundantly clear to Israelis, and to Palestinians and others in the region,” that Trump was “calling the shots.”
“I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid on Saturday. “He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice.” Trump “doesn’t threaten Netanyahu; he orders him,” Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Sunday's Yedioth Ahronoth, a mainstream Hebrew daily, per the Times.
What next?
The “messages from Hamas and Israeli leaders” suggested “both sides were under more pressure than at any point in recent months,” The Washington Post said. But “there remained substantial gaps between their positions and a significant possibility that the fragile détente would break down.” Israel said its negotiators are traveling to Egypt today, and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to join the talks later this week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Growing a brain in the labFeature It's a tiny version of a developing human cerebral cortex
-
How are Democrats trying to reform ICE?Today’s Big Question Democratic leadership has put forth several demands for the agency
-
Silicon Valley: Worker activism makes a comebackFeature The ICE shootings in Minneapolis horrified big tech workers
-
Which way will Trump go on Iran?Today’s Big Question Diplomatic talks set to be held in Turkey on Friday, but failure to reach an agreement could have ‘terrible’ global ramifications
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
Ukraine, US and Russia: do rare trilateral talks mean peace is possible?Rush to meet signals potential agreement but scepticism of Russian motives remain
-
Trump backs off Greenland threats, declares ‘deal’Speed Read Trump and NATO have ‘formed the framework for a future deal,’ the president claimed
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
