Diplomacy gathers pace amid threats, strikes

Efforts to end the conflict in Gaza gained momentum, with rival parties and mediators scheduled to meet in Cairo today, even as Israeli airstrikes continued across the territory, killing 19 more people.

US President Donald Trump said Hamas will face "complete obliteration" if the Palestinian group refuses to give up power and control of Gaza.

Complete obliteration! Donald Trump threatens if Hamas insists on staying in power Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions

Senior Hamas official

In an interview with CNN, Trump added that he expects to know soon whether Hamas is committed to peace.  He also said that the deal would be a great one for Israel.

Earlier, Hamas called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from both sides prepared to meet in Egypt for crucial talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Foreign ministers of several countries, including Egypt, said the talks were a "real opportunity" to achieve a sustainable ceasefire.

"Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions," a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The diplomatic push follows the Palestinian group's positive response to Trump's roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

However, the fate of the peace deal remains uncertain. The timeline for implementing Trump's plan is still unclear, with Gaza's devastation posing major logistical challenges. Key issues -- including Hamas's disarmament and Israel's potential withdrawal -- remain unresolved. Doubts also persist over the prospect of a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu has unequivocally said he would never permit.

The war in Gaza has "not yet" ended, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday, describing the release of the hostages held by Hamas as the first phase, while details on what happens after that still need to be worked out.

He told NBC's Meet the Press that Hamas had "basically" agreed to Trump's proposal and the framework for releasing the hostages, while meetings were underway to coordinate the logistics of that.

"They have also agreed, in principle and generalities, to enter into this idea about what's going to happen afterwards," he said. "A lot of details are going to have to be worked out there."

Speaking later to Fox News yesterday, Rubio said that nothing was certain.

"No one can tell you it's a 100 percent guarantee," he said.

He described the second phase of the long-term future of Gaza as "even harder."

"What happens after Israel pulls back to the yellow line, and potentially beyond that, as this thing develops? How do you create this Palestinian technocratic leadership that's not Hamas?" Rubio said. "How do you disarm any sort of terrorist groups that are going to be building tunnels and conducting attacks against Israel? How do you get them to demobilise?"

"All that work, that's going to be hard, but that's critical, because without that, you're not going to have lasting peace," he added.

However, Rubio urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the discussions in Egypt.

"You can't release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop," Rubio told CBS News talk show "Face the Nation".

"There can't be a war going on in the middle of it."

Negotiators are due to gather in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that the hostages could be released within days.

An Israeli government spokesperson said the country's delegation would be leaving yesterday evening.

Cairo confirmed it would be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners".

The White House said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt -- his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.

On Saturday, Netanyahu vowed to disarm Hamas, either through the peace plan proposed by Trump or by military means.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups seized 251 hostages during their October 7 attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead.

According to Trump's plan, in return for the hostages, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the war began.

But Trump has warned he will "not tolerate delay" from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly towards a deal "or else all bets will be off".

On Saturday, the president said that Israel agreed to the initial withdrawal line outlined in his proposed ceasefire plan.

In a post on social media, he said the administration is now waiting for confirmation from Hamas. If Hamas agrees, Trump said, a ceasefire would be "immediately effective" and a hostage and prisoner exchange would begin.

Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he called on Netanyahu's government to halt airstrikes in Gaza.

However, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza.

AFPTV footage showed thick smoke billowing over the skyline over the coastal territory yesterday.

Gaza's civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people in Gaza yesterday, after several attacks through the night. Israel killed 67 Palestinians on Saturday. 

"There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of air strikes (since last night). The tanks and military vehicles have slightly pulled back, but I believe this is a tactical move, not a withdrawal," said Muin Abu Rajab, 40, a resident of Al-Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City.

Israel's military chief yesterday said there was no ceasefire at the moment, but a tactical pause. He, however, said that if negotiations to secure the release of hostages fail to achieve their aims, the military will return to fighting in Gaza.

Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel's offensive has killed at least 67,139 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.