The Hamas and Israeli delegations participating in the Sharm el Sheikh negotiations for Gaza exchanged lists of prisoners to be released, one of the points of the Trump plan. Hamas sources reported this. According to the same sources, “optimism prevails” in the negotiations.
In a statement, Hamas assured that its delegation is showing “the positivity and responsibility necessary to achieve the progress necessary to complete the agreement.”
The mediators, Egyptian and Qatari, “are making great efforts to remove any obstacle to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among everyone”, according to Taher al-Nounou, one of the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement who takes part in the talks.
The Sharm negotiations focus on the mechanisms to bring the war to an end, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the release of the 48 hostages held by Hamas, dead and alive, in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas against Ben Givr for the visit to the Temple Mount
Hamas said in a statement that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount was “a deliberately provocative move that reflects the fascist thinking of the Israeli government.” The statement adds that the visit, which occurred on the same day as the Temple Mount riots (“the Al-Aqsa massacre,” as Hamas calls it) on 8 October 1990, was a hostile message aimed at imposing control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.