IRIA News

Delegations from Hamas and Israel began indirect talks in Egypt on October 6, 2025, aimed at ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed the two sides are ready to make a deal on his proposals.

The first round of negotiations concluded “amid a positive atmosphere” and would continue on Tuesday, Egyptian news media outlets reported. The discussions are being held behind closed doors under tight security, with mediators shuttling between the delegations only weeks after Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas’s top negotiators in a strike on Qatar.

According to the sources, both sides were “discussing preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners.” The outlets added that “Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “pretty sure” a peace deal was achievable. “I think Hamas has been agreeing to very important things… I think we’re going to have a deal,” he said.

Hamas’s lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who narrowly survived an Israeli strike targeting the group’s leaders in Doha last month, met with Egyptian intelligence officials ahead of the talks, according to an Egyptian security source.

The negotiations came on the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the current conflict. “This round of negotiations may last for several days,” a Palestinian source close to Hamas’s leadership told media reporters. “We expect the negotiations to be difficult and complex, given the occupation’s intentions to continue its war of extermination.”

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to join discussions in Egypt. Trump has urged both parties to “move fast” toward ending the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes continued Monday.

At least seven Palestinians were killed in the latest air raids, according to Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defense agency. Video footage from the grounds showed explosions and smoke rising over Gaza City even after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Israel to halt its bombardment.

Hostage-Prisoner exchange may take several days

Both Hamas and Israel have expressed cautious approval of Trump’s proposal, but bridging the remaining gaps remains a daunting task. The plan reportedly includes the disarmament of Hamas, a move the group is unlikely to accept, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has vowed to redeploy troops “deep inside” the territory to ensure the release of hostages.

A Palestinian source said that the initial phase of a hostage-prisoner exchange would “require several days, depending on field conditions related to Israeli withdrawals, the cessation of bombardment, and the suspension of all types of air operations.”

The negotiations aim to establish the date of a temporary truce and the conditions for the first phase of the plan, under which 47 hostages held in Gaza would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it stood ready to assist in the exchange and facilitate humanitarian aid across Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a famine. “The war has destroyed everything I built throughout my life,” said Mohammed Abu Sultan, 49, who fled Gaza City with 20 family members to Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. “We have been running from death for two years.”

Military Halt and Future Governance

A Palestinian source close to Hamas said the group would halt its military operations in parallel with Israel suspending its bombardment and withdrawing troops from Gaza City. However, Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warned that if talks collapse, the army would “return to fighting” in Gaza.

During Hamas’s October 7 attack, 251 hostages were seized, 47 of whom remain in Gaza. Israel says 25 of them are dead. Under Trump’s plan, Israel would release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and over 1,700 detainees captured during the war in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Hamas has insisted on retaining a say in Gaza’s future, but Trump’s roadmap stipulates that the group and other factions “not have any role in the governance of Gaza.” The plan envisions a technocratic administration overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“We hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu and force him to stop the war,” said Ahmad Barbakh from Al-Mawasi. “We want the prisoner exchange deal to be completed quickly so that Israel has no excuse to continue the war.”

Hamas’s 2023 attack killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has since claimed the lives of at least 67,160 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Ceasefire discussions are expected to continue in Cairo throughout the week, with negotiators seeking agreement on the timing of a truce, prisoner exchanges, and humanitarian access.

Meanwhile, dozens were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Saturday, local health officials said, despite Trump’s demand that Israel stop bombing following Hamas’s statement that it was ready to release hostages under his plan to end the two-year-old war. Ceasefire talks are set to resume in Egypt in the coming days.