How Rachel Goldberg Polin became a defender of Gaza hostages
Rachel Goldberg Pauline explains how she managed the loss of her son Hirsch, who was lured on October 7, 2023 and later executed by Hamas.
SHAM EL SHEIKH, Egypt/Cairo/Dubai, October 6 (Reuters) – Hamas officials on Monday hope that the US will stop the war in Gaza and bring the release of hostages despite controversial issues like disarming Palestinian militant groups under Don Trump’s plan, prior to talks with Israel.
Israeli negotiators were scheduled to travel to Egypt’s Red Sea resort later that day for discussions on releasing hostages, part of the US president’s 20-point blueprint to end the two-year-old conflict.
The Israeli delegation includes staff from spy agencies Mossad and Singh Bett, Ophiel Faul, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Gal Hirsch, hostage coordinator.
However, three Israeli officials said Israeli chief negotiator, Strategy Minister Ron Dahmer, was scheduled to take part only later this week. A spokesman for Dahmer and the Prime Minister did not immediately comment.
Hamas’ delegation is led by the group’s exiled Gaza leader, Khalil al-Hayya. Khalil al-Khaiyah’s first visit to Egypt has been made since surviving an Israeli airstrike in Qatar’s capital Doha last month.
Negotiators from Hamas are seeking clarity for the exchange of remaining hostages (living and dead) for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and Israeli military withdrawal and halt, according to a statement released Sunday by the Islamist group.
The troublesome issue reverberates in Israel’s plans, and insists that the group will not happen unless Israel ends its occupation and a Palestinian state is created, Hamas sources told Reuters.
Netanyahu, an internationally isolated country over the devastation of Gaza, rebels against the Western countries that have recognised Palestinian independence, saying that a Palestinian state would never happen.
Consultation officials told Reuters they expect the round of talk to kickoff Monday to be not quick.
“The negotiations won’t last for at least a few days. There’s probably no quick agreement as it’s about agreeing to all the details and comprehensive deals that took place before the ceasefire took place,” he said.
“Hamas and Israel have agreed to the basis of the Trump 20-point plan. The next phase or phase of the consultation is designed to address certain details that have been a long process in the past.”
Previously, the mediator secured an agreement in the first phase and left the neighbours to be negotiated later, but the entire process only collapsed in a short order.
Mediators have a long list of difficult issues to agree to Israel and Hamas. From logistics like logistics and timelines for the withdrawal of Israeli forces within Gaza to the fine prints of Gaza Governance from Hamas and the formation of an international stabilisation force envisaged as part of Trump’s plan, officials said.
Trump was optimistic. “I’ve been told I should complete the first phase this week and I’m asking everyone to move fast,” he said in a social media post.
The first stage deals with the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. There are 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, 20 of which are alive.
Trump’s plan is still the longest and most advanced effort to stop the most destructive war ever in a generation of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hamas approved the hostage release and several other elements of Trump’s plan on Friday, but avoided more contested points, including a call to disarm and abandon Gaza’s political power.
Trump welcomed Hamas’ response and told Israel to stop the bombing of Gaza.
Avoid a step-by-step approach
The plan sparked hope for peace among the Palestinians, but there was no disappointment from Israel’s attack on Gaza.
Domestically, Netanyahu is caught between increasing pressure to end the war (from hostage families and war-tiring publics), and argues that demands from the super-nationalist members of his coalition should not be forfeited by the efforts to annihilate Hama.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that quitting military operations on X would be a “significant mistake.” He and security minister Itamar Ben Gwil threatened to overthrow the Netanyahu government if the war ended.
But Ia Rapid, the opposition leader of the centre-dominated Yesid Party, said Trump’s initiative would be successful and political cover would be provided to “we don’t let them torpedo the deal.”
Israel launched Israel after a Hamas-led attack on Israel, followed by a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, when most civilians were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
The Israeli campaign killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza. Most of them are civilians, Gaza health officials say, and were wasted on the populated coastal enclave.
(Written by Michael Georgy, Edited by Mark Heinrich)
