Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan

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.

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