US special envoy and Trump’s son-in-law join Gaza peace talks in Egypt

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Gaza peace plan talks between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Egypt on Wednesday.

Their arrival comes as the second day of indirect talks ended on Tuesday without any tangible results, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC.

Trump spoke in a positive tone as Israelis marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on their country on October 7, saying, “There is a possibility that we will achieve peace in the Middle East.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He did not comment on the status of the talks, but told the Israelis that they were in “the fateful days of decision-making.”

Netanyahu added in a post on the website

A source familiar with the talks told the BBC that Witkoff and Kushner are expected to leave the United States on Tuesday evening and arrive in Egypt on Wednesday.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, He is seen as a prime brokerAn official told Reuters news agency:

The official said that Al Thani’s presence aims to “advance the ceasefire plan in Gaza and the hostage release agreement.”

The head of Turkish intelligence is expected to join him.

A senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that an evening round of indirect talks began on Tuesday at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

The official said that the morning session ended without tangible results, amid disagreements over the proposed Israeli withdrawal maps from Gaza and over the guarantees that Hamas wants to ensure that Israel does not resume fighting after the first phase of the deal.

He added that the talks were “difficult and have not yet resulted in any real breakthrough,” but noted that the mediators are working hard to narrow the gaps between the two sides.

Trump addressed the concerns on Tuesday, telling reporters, “We will do everything we can to make sure everyone adheres to the agreement.”

Earlier, a Palestinian official said that the negotiations focused on five main issues: a permanent ceasefire; exchanging hostages still held by Hamas with Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza; The withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; Arrangements for the delivery of humanitarian aid; and post-war governance of the territory.

Chief Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya Which was targeted by Israel last month In a series of air strikes on the Qatari capital, he told Egypt’s state-run Cairo News Channel that the group had come to conduct “serious and responsible negotiations.”

Al-Hayya said that Hamas is ready to reach an agreement, but it needs “real guarantees” from Trump and the international community that the war will end and will not resume.

Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said that the movement’s negotiators are working to remove “all obstacles to reaching an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people.”

Trump said that the prospects for peace “go beyond the situation in Gaza,” adding, “We want the hostages released immediately.”

In a message marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on all parties to agree to Trump’s peace plan, calling it a “historic opportunity” to “end this tragic conflict.”

Opinion polls now consistently indicate that about 70% of Israelis want an end to the war in exchange for the release of the hostages.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 67,173 people have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 20,179 children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip. Its numbers are considered reliable by the United Nations and other international bodies.

The ministry said that another 460 people have died due to the effects of malnutrition since the beginning of the war, including 182 since famine was confirmed in Gaza City last August through the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

The UN-backed body said that more than half a million people across Gaza face “catastrophic” conditions characterized by “hunger, destitution and death.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that there is a famine in Gaza.

A United Nations commission of inquiry said last month that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a report that the Israeli Foreign Ministry flatly rejected as “distorted and false.”