Top officials head to peace talks as Hamas submits list of prisoners it wants freed

Talks to end the war in Gaza appeared to advance on Wednesday, as top officials from all sides headed to Egypt, and Hamas submitted a list of prisoners to be released in exchange for the hostages it is holding, saying that “optimism” was prevailing.

Negotiations began on Monday in the resort town of Sharm el Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula over a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end the two-year Gaza war and release the 48 hostages held in the Strip. The plan also calls for Hamas to disarm and give up control of the territory to an international force as Israel withdraws its troops.

Israel, Hamas and the US, as well as Middle Eastern countries serving as mediators, have expressed optimism about the talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he accepted Trump’s plan. But it was unclear if longstanding sticking points, over issues such as the terror group’s disarmament and the scope of Israel’s withdrawal, could be overcome.

In a sign that the talks are progressing, the architects of Trump’s plan, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, arrived in Sharm el Sheikh on Wednesday.

They join a roster of senior officials from the participating parties: Top Hamas leaders Taher al-Nunu and Khalil al-Hayya are in Sharm el Sheikh. Strategic Affairs Minister and Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer was also due to join the talks on Wednesday afternoon, according to an Israeli official.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a longstanding mediator, will also take part, according to sources familiar with the matter. Another participant will be Turkish spymaster Ibrahim Kalin, pointing to a growing role for Turkey, a powerful NATO member that has close contacts with Hamas.

Representatives from smaller Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were also reportedly due to join the talks.

Nunu said in a statement that during today’s negotiations in Egypt, lists of “prisoners” to be released were exchanged between the sides, based on agreed criteria and numbers.

The statement appeared to refer both to lists of hostages — which Hamas refers to as “prisoners” — and of Palestinian security prisoners — including terror convicts and others serving life sentences, as well as Gazans detained amid the ongoing war.

“The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties,” Nunu said.

Hamas has been reportedly seeking the release of some of the most notorious Palestinian terrorists, whom Israel has refused to set free.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Hamas is also seeking the return of the bodies of two of its slain leaders in Gaza, brothers Yahya and Muhammad Sinwar. Yahya Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war, and was succeeded by his brother after being killed in 2024.

Terror groups in Gaza are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

The Trump plan calls for all the hostages to be released within the first 72 hours of the plan’s implementation.

Nunu added that the talks are also focusing on other issues, including mechanisms to end the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.

A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team said Tuesday’s session included Hamas discussing “the initial maps presented by the Israeli side regarding the withdrawal of troops as well as the mechanism and timetable for the hostage-prisoner exchange.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi echoed the optimism, saying he had received “very encouraging” messages from mediators about the ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza.

“Yesterday, delegations from Qatar, Egypt, and envoys of President Trump arrived in Sharm el Sheikh, and the messages I received from them are very encouraging,” he said on Wednesday at a graduation ceremony for Egyptian police officers in Cairo.

He urged Trump to continue working to end the war, and invited the American president to Egypt to sign an agreement on Gaza in person, if such a deal is reached.

“A ceasefire, the return of prisoners and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza and the launch of a peaceful political process that leads to the establishment and recognition of the Palestinian state means we are on the right path to lasting peace and stability,” he said.

In addition, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya that “additional Arab countries will sign peace agreements with Israel if the war in Gaza comes to an end.”

Israel has peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan and signed normalization deals with several Arab countries in 2020, known as the Abraham Accords. Trump has repeatedly touted expanding the accords following a Gaza peace deal.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also weighed in, saying that Ankara was pressing Hamas to accept the deal at the behest of Trump.

“Both during our visit to the United States and in our most recent phone call, we explained to Mr. Trump how a solution could be achieved in Palestine. He specifically requested that we meet with Hamas and persuade them,” Erdogan told Turkish journalists late Tuesday on board a plane returning from Azerbaijan. A transcript of his remarks was shared by his office Wednesday.

The Turkish leader has close ties with Hamas.

“Hamas responded by telling us that it is ready for peace and negotiations. In other words, it did not take a contrary stance. I consider this a very valuable step. Hamas is ahead of Israel,” Erdogan added.

“Our colleagues are in Sharm el Sheikh right now,” he said. The Turkish delegation, led by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, was set to join the talks on Wednesday.

“We have always been in contact with Hamas throughout this process. We are still in contact now,” he said. “We are explaining what the most reasonable path is and what needs to be done for Palestine to move forward with confidence into the future.”

Signs of tension at the talks were also evident. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya that “strong, written international guarantees” are required to ensure Israel carries out its obligations.

He said Qatar wants to ensure that what is currently being negotiated in Egypt — the return of hostages, release of Palestinian security prisoners, and a pause in fighting — will lead to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the entry of more aid, and a permanent end to the war.

He said that the parties have agreed on 20 principles, but “the devil is in the details, as they say in English.”

One of the biggest sticking points will be pressure on Hamas to disarm, an issue it has so far been unwilling to discuss at the talks, according to a Palestinian source close to the negotiations.

The timing of the implementation of the first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point initiative has also not yet been agreed upon, the Palestinian source said.

Trump’s plan calls for an international body led by Trump himself and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration. Arab countries that back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says will never happen.

Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, a complete pullout of Israeli forces, and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian “national technocratic body.”

Israel wants Hamas to disarm, which the group rejects. Hamas has said it won’t hand over its weapons until a Palestinian state has been established.

US officials suggest they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be freed.