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OIC Condemns Israel Decision to Bar 37 Aid Groups from GazaEU says Israel suspending GazaThe UN rights chief described Wednesday Israel's threat to suspend dozens of aid groups from operating in Gaza from January as "outrageous", calling on states to urgently insist Israel shift course."Israel's suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza is outrageous," Volker Turk said in a statement."Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza," he warned.His comment came after Israel said that 37 aid organisations will be banned from operating in Gaza starting Thursday, unless they comply with its new guidelines requiring detailed information on Palestinian staff.Israel has singled out international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), alleging that it had two employees who were members of Palestinian fighter groups.Apart from MSF, some of the 37 NGOs to be hit with the ban are Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision International, CARE and Oxfam, according to the list given by Zwick.Several NGOs have told AFP the new rules will have a major impact on aid distribution in Gaza, with humanitarian organisations saying the amount of aid entering the region remains inadequate."This is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access," Turk said, pointing to Israel's ban on the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and "attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the UN and other humanitarians"."I urge all States, in particular those with influence, to take urgent steps and insist that Israel immediately allows aid to get into Gaza unhindered," he said.The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said he wanted to "remind the Israeli authorities of their obligation under international law to ensure the essential supplies of daily life in Gaza".This, he stressed, includes "allowing and facilitating humanitarian relief".EU CONCERNThe EU warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in Gaza from January would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population, AFP reported from Brussels."The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form," EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X, after Israel said several groups would be barred for failing to provide details of their Palestinian employees."IHL (international humanitarian law) leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need," Lahbib wrote.NGOs had until December 31 to register under the new framework, which Israel says aims to prevent "hostile actors" operating in the Palestinian territories, rather than impede aid.The Israeli government told AFP earlier this month that 14 NGO requests had been rejected as of November 25.Several NGOs said the new rules will have a major impact on aid distribution in Gaza, with humanitarian organisations saying the amount of aid entering Gaza remains inadequate.While an accord for a ceasefire that started on October 10 stipulated the entry of 600 trucks per day, only 100 to 300 are carrying humanitarian aid, according to NGOs and the UN.Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said last week that on average 4,200 aid trucks enter Gaza weekly, which corresponds to around 600 daily.OIC CONDEMNSThe Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) has strongly condemned an Israeli decision to prevent 37 international NGOs from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the Gaza Strip, QNA reported from Jeddah.In a statement issued Wednesday, the OIC's general secretariat said the NGOs played a vital and irreplaceable role in easing the humanitarian and medical crisis in Gaza.It warned that the arbitrary measure would significantly worsen what it called the territory's already catastrophic humanitarian situation, citing Israeli restrictions that it said were limiting the flow of sufficient humanitarian and medical assistance into Gaza.The OIC said the decision was illegal and amounted to a serious violation of international humanitarian law. It also referred to an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which it said obliges an occupying power to facilitate the work of international and humanitarian organisations and to allow the unimpeded delivery of adequate aid to Gaza.The organisation called on the international community to take action and apply effective pressure on Israel to reverse the decision. 

Lebanon said three people were killed Monday in a strike near Sidon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah operatives, days ahead of a deadline for Lebanon’s army to disarm the group near the border. Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the fighter group, which it accuses of rearming. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday’s strike on a vehicle was carried out by an Israeli drone around 10 kilometres from the southern coastal city of Sidon and “killed three people who were inside”. The health ministry reported the same toll. Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, starting with the south. The Lebanese army plans to carry out the task south of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel — by year’s end. The latest strike came after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on Friday took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month, also under the committee’s auspices. The committee comprises representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the US, France and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil). Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the goal of the negotiations was to “stop the hostilities, achieve Israel’s withdrawal, return prisoners held in Israel and return southern residents to their villages”. Israel has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas that it deems strategic. “Lebanon awaits positive steps from the Israeli side,” Aoun told visiting Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto Monday, a presidency statement said. 

A young Palestinian man was injured after being severely beaten by Israeli occupation soldiers in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas in the West Bank.The Palestinian news agency (WAFA), citing medical sources, reported that Palestinian Red Crescent teams responded to the incident and transferred the injured man to hospital for treatment.Israeli occupation forces have been carrying out a large-scale raid in the Tubas Governorate since midnight, involving a significant deployment of troops in the area.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched widespread arrests, raids and violent house searches on Thursday in the West Bank, arresting 25 Palestinians.Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that the IOF arrested 18 Palestinians in the city of Dura during their raid on southern Al-Khalil, four others in the villages of Beita and Qaryout, south of Nablus, and three young Palestinians in the town of Deir Al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarm.In the same context, the IOF demolished a park in the town of Al-Qubayba, northwest of Occupied Jerusalem (Al-Quds).These arrests come as part of the escalating policy pursued by the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, which aims to terrify Palestinians, restrict their movement, and persecute activists and released prisoners.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on the country's south and east had killed three people, despite an ongoing ceasefire deal, as Israel claimed it had targeted two members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.Officials said one person had been killed in an "Israeli enemy strike" on a car in Naqoura, in Tyre province, while another strike on a vehicle in Nabi Sheet, in the country's eastern Baalbek region, resulted in another fatality.Later, the health ministry said a further strike on the town of al-Hafir, also in the Baalbek area, resulted in the death of a Syrian national and an injury to another Syrian.Despite a nearly year-long ceasefire, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon, often saying it is targeting Hezbollah positions.In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli army said it had killed Ali Hussein al-Mousawi in eastern Lebanon, describing him as "a weapons dealer and smuggler on behalf of Hezbollah".The Israeli military said it had also killed a local Hezbollah representative it identified as Abd Mahmoud al-Sayed, in southern Lebanon.Israel has intensified strikes in recent weeks, with several deadly attacks launched over the past few days.Last week, a United Nations special rapporteur told AFP that deadly Israeli strikes on ostensibly civilian vehicles in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, despite Israel's assertion they targeted Hezbollah members.As part of last year's ceasefire deal, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle any military infrastructure in the south.Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose.Despite the terms of the truce, Israel has kept troops deployed in five border points it deems strategic.

The United Nations' top legal body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Wednesday gave an advisory opinion saying that Israel is under the obligation to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met.The panel of 11 judges added Israel has to support relief efforts provided by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, and UN entities, including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East."As an occupying power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival," presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa said. He added that basic needs include food, water, shelter, fuel and medical services.Advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, carry legal and political weight, but they are not binding and the court has no enforcement power.The opinion, which was requested by the UN General Assembly in December, clarified the protections states must provide for UN staff and is expected to have effects beyond the Gaza conflict.In a post on X, Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the court's findings and added "Israel fully upholds its obligations under international law".The ICJ judges on Wednesday found that Israel had not substantiated its claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are Hamas members.In April this year lawyers for the United Nations and Palestinian representatives at the ICJ accused Israel of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into Gaza between March and May, a time when Israel completely cut off all goods.Since then, some humanitarian aid has been allowed in but UN officials say it was nowhere near what was needed to ease a humanitarian disaster which crossed the threshold into famine. A ceasefire agreed this month calls for Israel to admit 600 trucks of aid per day, but the UN says far less is entering so far.The ICJ opinion found Palestinians in Gaza were inadequately supplied and stressed Israel cannot use starvation as a weapon of war.Paul Reichler, a lawyer acting for the Palestinians, said the findings meant Israel was not complying with its international law obligations."On the one hand, you have the court finding that starvation as a method of warfare is illegal, and on the other, the court found that Israel deliberately prevented food from reaching the civilian population in Gaza," he said.UNRWA, which serves millions of Palestinians by running schools and aid distribution, employs more than 30,000 people.Within hours of the ruling, Norway said it would propose a UN General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel lift restrictions on Gaza aid.And the Palestinian delegate to the ICJ, Ammar Hijazi, urged nations to ensure Israel complies with the court to let aid into Gaza."The responsibility is on the international community to uphold these values and oblige Israel, bring Israel into compliance," he told reporters.Before the ruling, Abeer Etefa, Middle East spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), said 530 WFP trucks had crossed into Gaza since the ceasefire started on October 10.The trucks had delivered more than 6,700 tonnes of food, which she said was "enough for close to half a million people for two weeks".Etefa said around 750 tonnes a day were now coming through, well below WFP's target of around 2,000 tonnes daily.ICJ judges heard a week of evidence in April from dozens of nations and organisations, much of which revolved around the status of UNRWA.Hijazi told the April hearings that Israel was blocking aid as a "weapon of war", sparking starvation in Gaza.The case was separate from the others Israel faces under international law over its Gaza campaign.In July 2024, the ICJ issued another advisory opinion stating that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories was "unlawful" and must end as soon as possible.ICJ judges are also weighing accusations, brought by South Africa, that Israel has broken the 1948 UN Genocide Convention with its actions in Gaza.Another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, has issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gaza's civil defence agency said a series of Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed at least 11 people across the territory, as Israel and Hamas traded blame for violating a ceasefire.Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas authority, said six of the victims were killed when an Israeli strike targeted a "group of civilians" in northern Gaza.The Israeli military told AFP it was checking the reports of casualties.An army official earlier said Israel may carry out further strikes in Gaza after its forces targeted fighters following three attacks in the southern city of Rafah and the northern town of Beit Lahia.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that the remains of four deceased hostages returned by Hamas have been identified, including those of a Nepalese student.Separately, a Gaza hospital said it has received the bodies of 45 Palestinians that had been handed back by Israel, also as part of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war.In a statement, the Israeli military named two of the victims as Guy Iluz, an Israeli national, and Bipin Joshi, an agriculture student from Nepal.The names of the other two hostages have not yet been released at the request of their families, the statement added.Iluz, who was 26 at the time of the attack, had been attending the Nova music festival when assault happened on October 7, 2023.Joshi, who was 22 at the time of the attack, was part of a Nepalese agricultural training group that had arrived in Israel three weeks before the Hamas assault.He was abducted from Kibbutz Alumim.Hamas returned the four bodies on Monday, following the release of all 20 surviving captives as part of the ceasefire deal brokered by Trump.Meanwhile, the bodies of 45 Palestinians that had been in Israeli custody were handed over to the Nasser Medical Centre in Gaza, the hospital said.Under the Trump deal, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.Palestinian fighters are still holding the bodies of 24 hostages, which are expected to be returned under the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza Monday under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as US President Donald Trump told Israel's parliament that peace had arrived in the Middle East. The Israeli military said it had received all 20 hostages confirmed to be alive, after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross. The announcement prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv. In Gaza, thousands of relatives, many weeping with joy, gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be freed by Israel as part of the accord. "The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace," Trump told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, saying a "long nightmare" for both Israelis and Palestinians was over. He later left for a summit in Egypt intended to cement the truce. The US, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel. Trump arrived in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh about an hour before sundown for the gathering of more than 20 world leaders, which he was to chair alongside President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. At the opening of the summit, Trump signed a document on the ceasefire deal with Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye. The ceasefire and partial Israeli withdrawal agreed last week halted one of Israel's biggest offensives of the war, an all-out assault on Gaza City that was killing scores of people per day. Since then, huge numbers of Palestinians have been able to return to the ruins of homes in the Gaza Strip, swathes of which were reduced to a wasteland by Israeli bombardment that killed 68,000 people. Among the immediate issues still to be resolved: recovering the remains of another 26 Israeli hostages believed to have died and two whose fates are unknown. Hamas says recovering the bodies could take time as not all burial sites are known. It handed over four bodies Monday. Aid supplies must be rushed into the enclave, where hundreds of thousands of people face famine. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher underlined the need to "get shelter and fuel to people who desperately need it and to massively scale up the food and medicine and other supplies going in". Beyond that, crucial issues have yet to be resolved, including how to govern and police Gaza, and the ultimate future of Hamas, which still rejects Israel's demands to disarm. Video footage captured emotional scenes of Israeli families receiving phone messages from their loved ones as they were being released, their faces lighting up with disbelief and hope after months of anguish. Palestinians meanwhile rushed to embrace prisoners freed by Israel. Several thousand gathered inside and around Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, some waving Palestinian flags, others holding photos of their relatives. "I am happy for our sons who are being freed, but we are still in pain for all those who have been killed by the occupation, and all the destruction that happened to our Gaza," a Gaza woman, Um Ahmed, told Reuters in a tearful voice message. Freed prisoners arrived in buses, some of them posing from the windows, flashing V-for-Victory signs. Israel was due to release 1,700 detainees it captured in Gaza, as well as 250 prisoners from its jails convicted or suspected of security offences. Samer Halabeya, a doctor freed from jail where he was serving a sentence for planning an attack that wounded an Israeli officer, stood by his weeping mother in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. "We hope that everyone gets freed," he said.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Sunday ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the Gaza peace summit in Cairo. Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hopeful the ceasefire would bring an end to the war. "There is a lot of joy among the people," said Abdou Abu Seada, adding that the joy was tempered by exhaustion after two years of war that has destroyed much of Gaza. Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said that Israel expected the hostages to start being released early Monday morning with the 20 living hostages to be released together. In the event that hostages were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said. Their release is to be followed later by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages. Hamas will release its remaining hostages on Monday and will play no role in Gaza's future government, the group told AFP, as US President Donald Trump and other world leaders prepared to convene in Egypt for a major peace summit. Trump will first pass through Israel, addressing parliament and meeting with hostage families Monday before heading to Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh for the summit, where a "document ending the war in the Gaza Strip" is expected to be signed, according to Cairo's foreign ministry. As anxious but relieved Israeli families counted down the hours until their loved ones' return, desperate Palestinians picked through the ruins of their homes in Gaza City and aid trucks queued to deliver badly needed supplies. The third day of the ceasefire saw some aid trucks cross into Gaza, but residents in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Strip, said some shipments were being ransacked by starving residents in chaotic scenes. "We don't want to live in a jungle. We demand aid be secured and respectfully distributed," said Mohammed Zarab. "Look at how the food is lying on the ground. Look! People and cars are trampling it." For Mahmud al-Muzain, another bystander, the seizure of the aid parcels showed that Gaza did not trust that the US-led negotiations would lead to a long-term peace. "Everyone fears the war will return. People steal the aid and store it in their homes," he told AFP. "We stockpile food out of fear and worry that the war will come back." Any optimism that 38-year-old Fatima Salem might have felt when Israeli forces withdrew from her neighbourhood in Gaza City was shattered when she returned home to find it gone. "I returned to Sheikh Radwan with my heart trembling," she told AFP. "My eyes kept searching for landmarks I had lost -- nothing looked the same, even the neighbours' houses were gone. "Despite the exhaustion and fear, I felt like I was coming back to my safe place. I missed the smell of my home, even if it's now just rubble. We will pitch a tent next to it and wait for reconstruction." The Israel Prison Service said it had transferred some Palestinian prisoners to other facilities ahead of their expected release. The Israeli Ministry of Justice has released the names of 250 Palestinians, convicted of murder and other serious crimes, who are to be freed under the deal. The list does not include senior Hamas commanders that the Islamist militant group had sought to free, or prominent figures from other factions such as Marwan Al Barghouti or Ahmed Saadat. Although that was not expected to derail the agreement, Hamas' prisoners information office said that talks with Israeli mediators over the list of prisoners to be freed were ongoing. Israel is also to release 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023 and 22 Palestinian minors, along with the bodies of 360 militants. Israeli government spokesperson Bedrosian said the prisoners would be released once the living hostages reach Israeli territory. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that once the hostages were returned, the military would destroy underground tunnels in Gaza built by Hamas. Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have described widespread devastation. Rescue workers warned there could be unexploded ordnance and bombs in the area. Amjad Al Shawa, who heads a Palestinian organisation coordinating with aid groups, estimated 300,000 tents were needed to temporarily house 1.5 million displaced Gazans. "We couldn't believe the destruction we have seen," Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, said by phone after walking 15 km with his son from Deir Al Balah to Gaza City. Israelis were looking forward keenly to Monday, when Hamas is expected to release its remaining 48 hostages, living and dead. Late Saturday, massive crowds gathered in Tel Aviv to support hostage families and cheer Trump's peace envoy, Steve Witkoff. Thousands packed "Hostage Square" -- the scene of many protests and vigils during the two years since Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attacks triggered the latest war -- chanting "Thank you Trump!". "My emotions are immense, there are no words to describe them -- for me, for us, for all of Israel, which wants the hostages home and waits to see them all return," said Einav Zangauker, mother of 25-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker. Hamas will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 prisoners held in Israeli jails. "According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP in an interview. After Trump's visit to Israel on Monday, he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will chair a summit of leaders from more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian presidency announced. The meeting will aim "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security", it said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he will attend, as has Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Hamas and Israel are not expected to take part. Despite the apparent breakthrough, mediators still have the tricky task of securing a longer-term political solution that will see Hamas hand over its weapons and step aside from running Gaza. A Hamas source close to the group's negotiating committee told AFP on Sunday that it would not participate in post-war Gaza governance. "Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Strip, but it remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric," the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. But the official pushed back on calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons. "Hamas agrees to a long-term truce, and for its weapons not to be used at all during this period, except in the event of an Israeli attack on Gaza," the source said. Under the Trump plan, as Israel conducts a phased withdrawal from Gaza's cities, it will be replaced by a multi-national force from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,682 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas began indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday that the US hopes will bring a halt to the war in Gaza, facing contentious issues such as demands that Israel pull out of the enclave and Hamas to disarm.Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas have both endorsed the overall principles behind President Donald Trump's plan, under which fighting would cease, hostages go free and aid pour into Gaza, the closest they have come to an end to fighting.The plan also has the backing of Arab and Western states. Trump has called for negotiations to take place swiftly towards a final deal, in what Washington hails as the closest the sides have yet come to ending the fighting.Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself."I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST," Trump said in a social media post.But both sides are seeking clarifications of crucial details, including over issues that have wrecked all previous attempts to end the war and could defy any quick resolution.Trump has told Israel to suspend its bombing of Gaza for the talks. Gaza residents said Israel had scaled back its offensive substantially, although it had not halted it altogether.Egyptian state TV reported that the talks had begun at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh.Egyptian sources said Hamas was seeking clarification of several details, including guarantees that Israel would follow through with promises to withdraw its troops from Gaza once the militants give up their leverage by freeing their hostages.Inside Israel there is clamour for an end to the war to bring home hostages, although right-wing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet oppose any halt to fighting.Though Trump says he wants a deal quickly, an official briefed on the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he expected the round of talks would require at least a few days.An official involved in ceasefire planning and a Palestinian source said Trump's deadline to send all hostages back within 72 hours could be impossible to meet in the case of bodies of dead hostages, some of which would need to be located and recovered from burial sites scattered across the battlefield.A Palestinian official close to the talks was sceptical about prospects of a breakthrough given deep mutual mistrust, saying Hamas and other Palestinian factions were worried that Israel might ditch negotiations once it recovered the hostages.The Israeli delegation includes officials from spy agencies Mossad and Shin Bet, Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk and hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch. Israel's chief negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, was expected to join later this week, pending developments in the negotiations, according to three Israeli officials.Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected in Egypt.The Hamas delegation is led by the group's exiled Gaza leader, Khalil al-Hayya, who survived an Israeli airstrike that killed his son in Doha, the Qatari capital, a month ago.Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egypt's state intelligence, said "Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism" for the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators will speak through mediators shuttling back and forth.According to the Palestinian source, the initial hostage-prisoner exchange will "require several days, depending on field conditions related to Israeli withdrawals, the cessation of bombardment and the suspension of all types of air operations".Negotiations will look to "determine the date of a temporary truce", a Hamas official said, as well as create conditions for a first phase of the plan, in which 47 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has coordinated previous exchanges, said its teams were standing at the ready "to help bring hostages and detainees back to their families".On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised Trump's plan saying it offered "the right path to lasting peace and stability".

Hamas on Sunday called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from the two warring sides were set 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 comprehensive and 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 US President Donald Trump's roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.Negotiators are due to hold talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that hostages held in Gaza could be released within days.Netanyahu said Saturday he had instructed negotiators to go to Egypt "to finalise the technical details", while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners".An Israeli government spokesperson said the country's delegation would be leaving Sunday evening, with talks slated to start Monday -- the eve of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war.The White House said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt -- his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff."During communications with mediators, Hamas insisted that it is essential for Israel to halt military operations across all areas of the Gaza Strip, cease all air, reconnaissance, and drone activity, and withdraw from inside Gaza City," a Palestinian source close to Hamas said, adding the group would "also halt their military operations" in parallel.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".Trump said on Truth Social that Israel had agreed to an initial line of withdrawal in Gaza and that this had been shared with Hamas."When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal," he posted, alongside a map of the proposed line.Despite Trump calling on Israel to halt its bombings, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza.AFPTV footage showed thick smoke billowing over the skyline over the coastal territory on Sunday.Gaza's civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza City in the morning, after several attacks through the night. Nearly 60 people were killed across the territory the day before, it said.The United Nations had estimated that around one million people were living in the area before the start of the assault."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.Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the territory's future, though Trump's roadmap stipulates that it and other factions "not have any role in the governance of Gaza".The plan also calls for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament -- something the group has frequently described as a red line in the past.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."We hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu and force him to stop the war," said Ahmad Barbakh, a resident of Al-Mawasi area."We want the prisoner exchange deal to be completed quickly so that Israel has no excuse to continue the war."