Israel and Hamas prepare for talks on Trump’s plan to end war in Gaza

Demonstrators raise the lights on their mobile phones in the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, during a rally calling for the release of Israeli hostages and an end to the war against Hamas in Gaza on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025.

By AARON BOXERMAN

Israeli and Hamas negotiators were preparing for talks in Cairo planned for Monday, which mediators hope will pave the way for the end of the war in the Gaza Strip.

But American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators will face numerous roadblocks that could delay or undermine the chances for a quick ceasefire. This round of talks is expected to focus on one main issue — swapping the remaining hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners — which may leave negotiations on other formidable obstacles to ending the war until later.

Israel believes that about 20 living hostages still remain in Gaza, as well as the bodies of at least 25 others. But because Hamas views the captives as their most significant leverage with Israel, the group is unlikely to free them unless other elements of the deal are worked out.

Under the terms of President Donald Trump’s latest plan to end the nearly 2-year-old war, the hostages would be swapped for 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in prison and for 1,700 Palestinians jailed by Israel during the war. Israel would also hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each dead Israeli.

Trump suggested in a post on social media Saturday that the hostages might be released as soon as Hamas agrees to the latest terms, particularly how far Israeli forces would withdraw from their current position in Gaza.

But that is only one element of Trump’s sweeping plan, which envisions the creation of an internationally supervised Palestinian government and a postwar security force drawn from foreign countries, as well as the disarming of Hamas.

Hamas officials have expressed significant reservations about many of these points, particularly about laying down their weapons. But even the terms of exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners will most likely present difficulties, analysts say.

Trump’s proposal demands that Hamas return all of the surviving captives and the bodies in its possession within 72 hours of Israel’s agreeing to the ceasefire.

Both Israeli and Hamas officials say that the Palestinian group might need more time. Some living captives are believed to be held deep underground, while the bodies of others would need to be located and dug up.

Another thorny issue will be how far Israeli forces commit to withdrawing from their current positions within Gaza.

In previous talks, Hamas had agreed for Israeli troops to withdraw to a buffer zone close to the enclave’s borders. But the lines envisioned by Trump would leave Israeli forces deployed far deeper in Gaza, which Hamas could object to.

Israel and Hamas have now fought for two years since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war and killed about 1,200 people. The devastating Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people — including thousands of children — according to local health officials.