Negotiations to resolve the conflict in Gaza involving Israeli and US delegations will begin in Egypt on Sunday, Israeli Channel 12 television reported on Saturday.
US President's envoy Steve Witkoff has already left for Egypt. It is noted that the US side may be represented by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who was among the authors of Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan. The Israeli delegation could be led by Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Planning and a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli government source told RIA Novosti that Israel is preparing to send a delegation of negotiators to discuss the details of implementing the first phase of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, which concerns the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
On Friday, the Palestinian movement Hamas announced its readiness to release all living Israeli hostages and hand over the bodies of the dead, in accordance with US President Donald Trump's plan. Trump had previously threatened severe consequences if Hamas did not respond positively to his 20-point proposal by Sunday.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later announced that, in response to Hamas's response, Israel would immediately begin implementing the first phase of Trump's plan to release all hostages.
Israeli observers and journalists noted that the Hamas statement did not mention the group's agreement to Israel's key demands for disarmament and withdrawal from future governance of the Gaza Strip, as outlined in Trump's plan. Furthermore, Israel's response to the readiness of the plan also does not contain a guarantee that the war will not end if the hostage-for-prisoner swap is successful.
An Israeli political source told the channel that Israel does not intend to prolong the negotiations and has agreed only to a tactical pause in order to exhaust all options for the return of the hostages.
“If Hamas does not cooperate, we can advance quickly in Gaza. The price of the pause is low and it is worth giving the hostages a chance to be released,“ the channel quoted the source as saying.
Earlier, the Israeli radio station “Galei Tzahal“ reported that Israel's political leadership has instructed the army to halt the operation to capture Gaza City and minimize offensive activity in the Strip, after the warring parties agreed to implement US President Donald Trump's peace plan.