Cairo: EgyPulse – News Desk
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff have joined the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks, taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh for the third day, Al Qahera News reported. Egypt has been hosting intensive talks between Hamas and Israeli delegations since Monday, aimed at securing the release of all captives held by Hamas and ending the war that has continued for more than two years and killed over 67,000 Palestinians.
According to Axios, Trump met on Tuesday with his national security team to review the status of the Gaza negotiations before Witkoff and Kushner departed for Egypt. Senior US officials told Axios that both envoys will not leave Egypt until an agreement is reached. Head of the General Intelligence Services Major General Hassan Rashad and his Turkish counterpart, Ibrahim Kalin, are expected to join the talks on Wednesday, in the presence of Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide, Ron Dermer, will reportedly join as well. One US official asserted that while Netanyahu has successfully applied pressure on Hamas through the military operations, he “must understand that the time for a deal has come.” The negotiations follow Hamas’ approval of Trump’s peace proposal for Gaza, though the movement stressed that further discussions are necessary before a formal agreement can be finalized.
Hamas leader and head of the negotiating delegation Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Qahera News on Tuesday that their “immediate” objectives include ending the war, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and arranging the exchange of all Israeli captives, living and deceased, for Palestinian prisoners, in line with Trump’s plan.
Al-Hayya emphasized that the agreement must include binding assurances that hostilities will cease permanently. A source within Hamas told Qatar’s Al Jazeera that the movement insists that Israeli troops fully withdraw from Gaza as soon as the final captive is released.
