On October 6, 2025, as the second anniversary of the Gaza war loomed, delegations from Israel and Hamas gathered at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to launch indirect negotiations aimed at finally ending the devastating conflict. The talks, mediated by Egypt, the United States, and Qatar, centered on a U.S.-drafted peace plan championed by President Donald Trump—one that, if successful, could reshape the future of the region.
The atmosphere in Sharm el-Sheikh was tense but tinged with cautious optimism. According to Reuters, both Israel and Hamas had endorsed the broad principles of Trump’s proposal, which called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and the delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza. Trump himself, speaking from the White House as the talks commenced, declared, “I really think we’re going to have a deal. We have a really good chance of making a deal, and it’ll be a lasting deal.”
The first phase of the plan, as reported by the Associated Press, involved the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, alongside the establishment of a ceasefire. The Israeli delegation was led by top negotiator Ron Dermer, with foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk and officials from Mossad and Shin Bet present. Hamas’s delegation was headed by Khalil al-Hayyah, the group’s exiled Gaza leader, who had survived an Israeli airstrike that killed his son just a month prior.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were also in attendance, underscoring the high stakes and international attention focused on the talks. As Al-Qahera News and Reuters noted, the delegations met separately with Arab mediators before further sessions were scheduled for the following day.
Despite the diplomatic push, the reality on the ground in Gaza remained grim. The Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that at least 19 Palestinians were killed and 96 wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the 24 hours preceding the talks. Civil defense officials cited a death toll of 24 in the same period, as Israeli forces continued their offensive. Since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, the ministry said, 67,160 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 170,000 wounded, with more than half of the deaths being women and children—a toll that the United Nations and many independent observers regard as the most reliable estimate available.
The war’s origins trace back to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 hostages taken. According to Reuters, this was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has left much of Gaza in ruins and the majority of its 2.2 million residents homeless and hungry.
Trump’s peace plan, as outlined in the negotiations, calls for Hamas to release the remaining 48 hostages—about 20 of whom are believed to be alive—within three days, and to give up both power and its weapons in Gaza. In exchange, Israel would agree to a phased withdrawal of troops, beginning with a pullback to the so-called “yellow line,” a strategic buffer zone within Gaza. Further Israeli withdrawals would depend on Hamas meeting additional conditions, a senior Israeli security source told Reuters.
Yet, as the Associated Press and Reuters both highlighted, several thorny issues threatened to derail a quick resolution. Hamas has insisted it will not disarm unless Israel ends its occupation and agrees to the creation of a Palestinian state—terms that Israel has long resisted. There is also deep skepticism within both camps about whether the other side will uphold its commitments once hostages are freed and the initial ceasefire is in place. Egyptian sources told Reuters that Hamas was seeking guarantees that Israel would abide by the deal and not resume its offensive after hostages are released.
Inside Israel, public opinion is sharply divided. Many families of hostages have pressed for an end to the war to bring their loved ones home, even if it means painful concessions. At a commemoration for those killed at Nir Oz Kibbutz, Daniel Lifshitz, the grandson of slain hostage Oded and released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, said, “Israel will pay painful concessions by releasing mass murderers and terrorists that killed many among our friends and families here in Israel, but we cherish life and in Trump we trust to make it happen.” Meanwhile, some right-wing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet remain staunchly opposed to any halt in fighting.
In Gaza, the suffering is acute and unrelenting. Families displaced by fighting, including those with children born on the day the war began, now mark the second anniversary in tents, lacking food, clean water, or access to healthcare. “I was envisioning a different life for him … He couldn’t experience what a safe family life feels like,” said Amal al-Taweel, a mother whose son Ali was born on October 7, 2023, as quoted by AP. UNICEF spokesperson James Elder described harrowing scenes in Gaza’s hospitals, where “children [are] either suffering or dying everywhere I looked.”
The international community, too, has weighed in. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi praised Trump’s efforts in a televised speech marking the anniversary of Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel, emphasizing the importance of preserving the U.S.-crafted “peace system” in the Middle East. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Trump’s plan “an opportunity that must be seized to bring this tragic conflict to an end.” The Vatican, meanwhile, condemned both the “inhuman massacre” of Israelis and what it called Israel’s “disproportionate massacre” in Gaza, urging respect for the principle of proportionality in warfare.
As the talks adjourned late Monday, with more sessions set for Tuesday, the world watched anxiously. Trump’s 72-hour deadline for the return of hostages loomed, but officials on both sides acknowledged that locating the remains of dead hostages could require more time. Despite the obstacles, the negotiations in Egypt represent the closest the parties have come in two years to ending a war that has devastated countless lives on both sides of the border.
For now, hope hangs in the balance in Sharm el-Sheikh. Whether this fragile moment will yield a lasting peace or dissolve into more violence remains, quite literally, a matter of life and death for millions.
