Hamas-Israel talks: what's happening?

Hamas officials were in Egypt on Monday for talks with Israel that the U.S. hopes will bring a halt to war in Gaza and release of hostages despite contentious issues like disarmament of the Palestinian militant group under the plan of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israeli negotiators were also due to travel to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh later in the day for talks about freeing hostages, part of the U.S. President's 20-point blueprint for ending the two-year-old conflict.

So what is the current state of affairs and what are the deal's potential sticking points?

Israel

Domestically, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is caught between growing pressure to end the conflict - from hostage families and a war-weary public - and demands from ultra-nationalist members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in efforts to annihilate Hamas.

Netanyahu says a Palestinian state will never happen, defying Western countries that have newly recognized Palestinian independence.

Under pressure from Trump to end the two-year-old war, Netanyahu is facing a backlash from ultra-nationalist allies whose opposition to the peace proposal could force the Israeli leader into early elections.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said ceasing the military campaign would be a "grave mistake." He and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have threatened to bring down Netanyahu's government if the war ends.

Netanyahu has embraced Trump's 20-point plan to end the war, which calls for Gaza's demilitarization and rules out any future governing role for Hamas, though it allows its members to remain if they renounce violence and surrender their weapons.

But the idea that Hamas could still exist, let alone be in a position to continue discussing the Gaza plan after hostages are released, enraged Netanyahu's right-wing coalition partners.

However, insisting on more war in Gaza would antagonize the families of hostages still held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, and could further alienate a war-weary Israeli public, as well as Israel's international allies.

Continued conflict could also extinguish Israeli hopes that more Arab and Muslim states like Saudi Arabia or Indonesia could join the Abraham Accords, a set of U.S.-backed agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Hamas

Negotiators from Hamas will seek clarity on the mechanism to achieve a swap of remaining hostages - both alive and dead - for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, as well as an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and a ceasefire, according to a statement put out by the Islamist group late on Sunday.

Hamas on Friday approved the hostage release and several other elements of Trump's plan but sidestepped more disputed points, including calls for it to disarm and relinquish political power in Gaza.

A thorny issue is likely to be the Israeli demand, echoed in Trump's plan, that Hamas disarm, something the group insists cannot take place unless Israel ends its occupation and a Palestinian state is created.

Negotiations will look to "determine the date of a temporary truce", the 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.

How fast could progress be made?

An official briefed on the talks said he expected the round of talks kicking off on Monday would not be quick.

"Negotiations will last at least a few days if not longer. There won't likely be a quick agreement because the goal is to reach agreement on a comprehensive deal with all details worked out before the ceasefire can begin to be implemented," he said.

"Hamas and Israel have agreed to the fundamentals of the Trump 20-point plan. The next phase or phases of talks are designed to tackle the specific details, which in the past has been a lengthy process."

Previously, mediators have secured agreement on a first phase and left the next to be negotiated later, only for the whole process to collapse within short order.

Trump was optimistic. "I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST," he said in a social media post.

But Trump's plan lacks details, including any sort of time frame for Hamas to disarm.

International reaction

On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised Trump's plan saying it offered "the right path to lasting peace and stability". 

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said ongoing attempts to end the Gaza war were the most promising since the beginning of the conflict. "For the first time in two years, it is not just about a ceasefire, but about a viable political solution," he said. 

Iran supports any initiative that "ends the killing in Gaza", Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.

China last week welcomed "all efforts" to end the war in Gaza and resolve the Palestine-Israel conflict.

"China welcomes and supports all efforts conducive to easing tensions between Palestine and Israel," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

The 193-member UN General Assembly has adopted several resolutions on Gaza, largely after the Security Council was blocked from taking action by the United States. The General Assembly votes have seen Israel and the U.S. overwhelmingly isolated.

General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Unlike the UN Security Council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly.

Has the fighting stopped?

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters on Sunday that the military would continue to act for "defensive purposes", she said. Despite Trump's call to halt the bombing, Israeli strikes on Gaza over the weekend killed dozens of Palestinians.

A Palestinian source close to Hamas said it would halt its military operations in parallel with Israel stopping its bombardment and withdrawing its troops from Gaza City.

Gaza's civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli attacks killed at least 20 people across the territory on Sunday, 13 of them in Gaza City.