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Third-party negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement on a Trump administration initiative to stop the conflict in Gaza have commenced in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Middle Eastern and regional officials have indicated that the discussions are centered around "creating the field conditions" for a anticipated transfer that would see the release of all detained individuals in exchange for a group of detained Palestinians.

The group stated it consents to the ceasefire initiative partially, but has omitted reference to several crucial requirements - including its weapons surrender and political participation in Gaza.

The Israeli leader said on Saturday that he anticipated declaring the release of captives "shortly"

Background Context

The talks, which will feature Egyptian and Qatari officials holding shuttle meetings with representatives from both the two sides separately, come on the approach of the two-year mark of the armed assault on border communities on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were fatally wounded and 251 others were taken hostage.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response. Following the initial attack, over 67,000 have been lost their lives by Israeli military operations in Gaza, as reported by the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Peace Plan Details

The 20-point plan, which has been agreed upon by the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government, proposes an quick halt to hostilities and the freeing of 48 hostages, only 20 individuals are considered surviving, in compensation of numerous of Palestinian prisoners.

The proposal specifies that once the two parties accept the plan "humanitarian support will be immediately sent into the Palestinian territory"

It also specifies that Hamas would have no involvement in political leadership, and it allows for an eventual Palestinian state.

Latest Updates

Recently, officials replied to the plan in a declaration, in which the group consented "to liberate all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, in accordance with the swap arrangement specified by President Trump's proposal" - if the required situation for the exchanges are met.

It failed to address or approve Trump's 20-point plan but said it "renews its agreement to transfer the governance of the conflict zone to a Palestinian body of technocrats, established through Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support"

The statement omitted reference of one of the key demands of the plan – that the militant group consent to its weapons surrender and to having no future involvement in the administration of Gaza.

Global Perspectives

Many Palestinians portrayed the organization's answer to the negotiation initiative as surprising, after days of suggestions that the group was preparing to reject or at least significantly qualify its approval of Trump's peace plan proposal.

Instead, the organization excluded its traditional "red lines" in the public announcement, a action many view as a indication of outside forces.

Global and local representatives have endorsed the initiative. The Palestinian Authority, which controls sections of the disputed regions, has described the US president's efforts as "genuine and committed"

The Islamic Republic - which has been one of the group's primary supporters for an extended period - has also recently indicated its support for the American initiative.

Current Situation

Military strikes continued in several parts of the Gaza Strip on Monday before the talks beginning.

Defense personnel is implementing an offensive in the city, which it has declared is intended to achieving the liberation of the remaining hostages.

Mahmoud Basal, representing Gaza's civil protection agency, reported that "no aid trucks have been authorized access for Gaza City since the offensive began recently"

"Remains persist we cannot retrieve from zones under military occupation" he said.

Numerous individuals of the urban center have been required to leave after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a established protection region in the lower territory, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.

The defense representative has cautioned that those who stay during the military operation would be "combatants and their sympathizers"

In the recent period, 21 residents have been lost their lives in Gaza and a further 96 wounded, the local medical authorities said in its most recent report.

International journalists have been restricted by Israel from visiting the Palestinian territory without supervision since the beginning of the conflict, making authenticating statements from the conflicting groups problematic.