Hamas indicated in a press release that its delegation arrived in Egypt to begin negotiations on the mechanisms for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupation forces, and a prisoner exchange.
The movement did not specify the duration of the visit or details of the agenda for the talks, but the new round comes amid escalating regional and international efforts to end the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for nearly two years.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that an Israeli negotiating delegation will depart Monday for the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh to hold talks on a prisoner exchange deal, as part of the initiative proposed by Trump.
"The Prime Minister has ordered the departure of a delegation to manage the negotiations, headed by Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer," the office said in a statement, adding that "the delegation will leave tomorrow (Monday) for Sharm el-Sheikh to conduct the negotiations." It noted that "Dermer will not accompany the delegation at this stage and will join it later."
According to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, despite Dermer being named as head of the delegation in the statement, he will not participate in the opening session of the talks.
The newspaper added that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Trump's envoys, will also be absent from the opening session in Sharm el-Sheikh.
For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (official) quoted official sources as saying that Netanyahu had received the "green light" from most senior members of the government coalition to proceed with the first phase of the deal, despite opposition from some ministers.
The sources explained that the two extremist ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, "are expected to vote against the deal in principle," but they will not cause the coalition to collapse at this stage.
She continued, "The red line for a number of government ministers will be, when moving to the second phase of the agreement, if the Gaza Strip is not demilitarized and Hamas and other organizations are not removed from it."
Earlier on Sunday, US President Donald Trump described his plan for the Gaza Strip as a "great deal," saying that negotiations to secure a ceasefire and release prisoners were progressing "well."
This comes as Tel Aviv continues its war of genocide in Gaza, with attacks that leave martyrs and wounded daily, ignoring the US president's call on Friday evening to immediately halt the bombing of the Strip.
For its part, Egypt announced Saturday evening that it would host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday to discuss the details of a prisoner exchange in accordance with the US president's plan to cease the war in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On September 29, Trump announced a 20-point plan, including the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, a ceasefire, and the disarmament of Hamas.
During a press conference with the US President at the White House last Monday, Netanyahu announced his "support for the Trump plan," believing it "achieves Israel's goals from the war."
On Friday evening, Hamas said in a statement that it had submitted its response to the Trump plan for Gaza to mediators, announcing its agreement to the release of all Israeli prisoners, living and dead.
It also renewed its agreement to hand over management of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.
But Hamas stressed that the future of the Gaza Strip and the rights of the people would be discussed within a Palestinian framework.
Tel Aviv estimates there are 48 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, approximately 20 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, approximately 11,100 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have been killed, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
