On October 7, 2025, two years after Israel began its war on Gaza, Hamas and Israel entered their second day of indirect talks in Egypt amid a plan to potentially implement US President Donald Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” for Gaza.
Read more: Israel continues airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas agrees to release all Israeli captives
Hamas leaders present at the talks include Khalil al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin, both of whom survived Israel’s assassination attempt in Qatar. Al-Hayya’s son and office manager both died in those airstrikes.
Hamas has accepted some terms of Trump’s plan, namely to release all remaining Israeli hostages and return bodies of deceased hostages to Israel. However, Hamas leaders have thus far not agreed to other notable parts of the plan, including to disarm.
Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged Hamas to disarm, saying in a speech at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris that Egypt “is coordinating with our brothers in Qatar and with our colleagues in Turkey in order to convince Hamas to respond positively to this plan,” and that he is in agreement with Trump’s proposal that the Palestinian resistance group “has no role in the day after.”
“No one has the right or is permitted to relinquish the weapon of the Palestinian people,” reads a statement issued by an umbrella of Palestinian resistance groups. “The option of resistance in all its forms will remain the only way to confront the usurping zionist enemy.”
Israel meanwhile, has said that it remains “cautiously optimistic” about the negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump introduced the plan together in a White House Press Conference on September 29. The Israeli government has agreed to the proposals and “is committed to President Trump’s plan and bringing every hostage home immediately,” as an Israeli government source told Euronews.
Al-Hayya told Egyptian Al Qahera News TV that Hamas needed a “guarantee” that the war will end to ensure “it is not repeated.” Hamas leaders have issued demands of their own, including a permanent ceasefire of Israel’s war on Gaza, full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid, and a prisoner exchange.
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