CAIRO, Egypt
Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire in Gaza grew after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week.
President Donald Trump has welcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the US peace plan. Israel has said it supported the new U.S. effort.
Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.
Top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and the delegation will leave Monday for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu's office said.
An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters, also said US envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks.
Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation “the closest we’ve come to getting all of the hostages released.”
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,’’ he described two phases after Hamas accepts Trump’s framework: The hostages are released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the “yellow line,” where it was in August.
Rubio told CBS that Hamas should release hostages as they are ready, and that bombardment needs to end so they can be released.
The U.S. plan also addresses Gaza's future. In a text exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump said there would be “complete obliteration” if Hamas stayed in power there.
Trump also texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending the bombing and peace in Gaza but added, “soon on the rest.”
Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Badrosian told journalists that Netanyahu is in “regular contact” with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talks in Egypt “will be confined to a few days maximum.”
“I hope that we are closest to a hostage deal since the (ceasefire) deal in January,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a speech Sunday.
Anxious relatives of hostages gathered near Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, with some urging Trump to continue to apply pressure. Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza City led many to fear for the hostages' lives.
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