With the arrival in Sharm el Sheik of the two envoys of the US president, the Israeli chief negotiator, the Qatari prime minister, and the official presence of the head of Turkish intelligence, the negotiation for the peace agreement in Gaza and the release of all the hostages has entered the operational phase. The statements reported by the Arab media are positive, while the Israeli ones are more cautious but still optimistic. The well-informed Channel 12 news reports that Qatari mediators believe a deal can be reached by Friday: the goal is to announce the deal this week and start freeing the hostages next week. News confirmed by a White House official, according to whom there is “good progress in the talks and an agreement could be reached within a few days”. Turkey’s foreign minister said a ceasefire could be announced as early as Wednesday evening, but Israeli officials question that timing.
Meanwhile, Hamas has provided information on “around 20 hostages still alive”, Israeli officials told Channel 12. The report adds that the terrorist group says it is still searching for some of the slain hostages – Israel has confirmed the deaths of 26 of the 48 hostages – and that it is unclear whether all of them can be located.
Nothing is yet taken for granted. And after the first round of talks we are now entering the delicate phase. Starting with the exchange of hostages and Israeli prisoners held in Israeli cells. The parties exchanged lists. And that of Hamas, which is asking for more than the 250 life sentences expected, would contain names – such as those of Barghouti and Saadat – which remain a ‘red line’ for Israel. With Netanyahu who, according to the media, would be willing to pose a real veto. The issue of the release of the kidnapped also remains, especially those now lifeless for whom the Palestinian faction has announced that it will take a long time to trace them. Also to be resolved, after the truce has been reached and the kidnapped released, is the issue of disarmament and the withdrawal of the IDF. This is the latter point on which Doha has asked for precise guarantees.
However, the mediators remain optimistic and Egyptian President Sisi has invited Donald Trump to Cairo to the signing ceremony of the agreement between Israel and Hamas, in case it is signed: «The talks in Sharm are progressing positively. I invite the US president to participate in the signing of the ceasefire agreement if it is reached. It would be wonderful to have him here.” Meanwhile, the most read site in Israel, Ynet, reveals that the authorities in Jerusalem are also preparing for the possibility of Trump’s arrival if an agreement is reached. An eventuality which, however, at the moment would not find confirmation in Washington.
According to a White House source to Politico, the US envoy for the Middle East and Trump’s advisor (and son-in-law), Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had a ‘strategic meeting’ with the president in the Oval Office before leaving for Egypt. In Sharm el-Sheikh, after the initial ‘technical’ meetings, all the main mediators took part in the discussions on Wednesday: Witkoff and Kushner for the USA, the head of the Israeli delegation Ron Dermer, the Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed al-Thani, the director of Turkish intelligence (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin. For Hamas there are Zaher Jabarin and Khalil al-Hayya.
According to Palestinian sources, the differences concern in particular the lists of detainees to be included in the exchange with the kidnapped. The Islamist organization has included among the lifers to be released the names of the so-called ‘big seven’: Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, Hassan Salameh Abdullah, Ibrahim Hamed, Abdullah Barghouti, Abbas al-Sayed, Nayef Barghouti. They all have dozens of life sentences to serve and hundreds more for terrorism-related crimes. The initial plan envisaged the release of 250 life prisoners (out of 280 total) and up to 1,700 arrested people after 7 October 2023. Hamas, it was learned, would also ask for the return of the bodies of Yahya and Muhammed Sinwar. Jerusalem is not even willing to release the Hamas Nukhba militiamen who committed the massacre two years ago. The Americans, Israeli media say, are determined not to leave the negotiating table until the agreement is signed.
In the midst of the crucial negotiations in Sharm, fighting continues in Gaza between Hamas militiamen and the Israeli army. On Wednesday afternoon the IDF announced that it had eliminated numerous terrorists who were attacking troops and trying to kidnap soldiers at a position in Gaza city. Saudi media said on Wednesday afternoon that the “Arab pressure exerted on the parties is unprecedented.”