Senior officials to gather in Egypt for final push for Gaza deal

Abeer Abu Omar, Bloomberg News on Oct 7, 2025

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Teams from the U.S., Qatar, Israel and other nations are headed to Egypt as part of a final push for a deal with Hamas aimed at ending the two-year war that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized much of the Middle East.

An Israeli delegation led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest advisers — was set to travel to Sharm El-Sheikh, according to a person familiar with the matter, as was a U.S. team that was expected to include U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, another two people said.

They will join Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who will head to the resort city on Wednesday, according to the country’s foreign ministry. Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that Ibrahim Kalin, the director of Turkish intelligence, was also on the way.

The number of senior officials headed to Egypt underscored how many leaders believe they’re on the cusp of an agreement after President Donald Trump put forward a 20-point peace plan last week alongside Netanyahu, and Hamas agreed days later to release remaining hostages.

Doubts have emerged since then about the two sides’ commitment to the deal even as Trump has said the two sides are extremely close. Hamas is looking to secure a “fair hostage exchange” as part of a deal, Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised address broadcast on Qatar-based Al-Jazeera on Tuesday.

The Palestinian militant group’s negotiating team in Egypt will aim to “eliminate all obstacles” to a settlement, Barhoum said, adding that a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops must be “at the forefront” of a deal.

Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said a U.S. team is in the region already and a second is on the way. The two people familiar with the U.S. plans said that second team included Kushner and Witkoff.

“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East, something even beyond the Gaza situation,” Trump said. “Other countries, literally every country in the world, has supported the plan. I don’t think there’s anybody that hasn’t — actually not that I’ve seen — but there’s a real chance that we could do something.”

An agreement should also include the unconditional entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, an assurance that refugees can return and immediate permission to begin reconstruction under a Palestinian committee, Barhoum said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if his comments indicate Hamas won’t agree to release hostages unless all of the group’s conditions are met, which would reduce the likelihood of a deal being struck imminently. Israeli government spokespeople have yet to comment on the status of the talks.

In a social media post late Tuesday, Netanyahu said, “We will continue to work for the achievement of all the war goals: the full return of our hostages, the elimination of the Hamas regime and ensuing that Gaza will not longer pose a threat to Israel.”

Hamas still holds about 20 people abducted during the October 2023 attacks that triggered the war, plus the remains of about two dozen more who have died in captivity. Under the terms of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Hamas will release all of them in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel and Hamas began mediated peace negotiations this week in Sharm El-Sheikh to build on the proposal.

An Israeli official said the military had assumed a defensive posture in its ongoing campaign in Gaza City, while Hamas said airstrikes and shelling continued, killing dozens of people. Israel has in recent weeks focused its attention on Gaza’s de facto capital, saying the last Hamas strongholds are embedded there.

Barhoum on Tuesday warned against what he called Netanyahu’s “attempts” to obstruct the talks this week, adding Israel has failed to achieve its goals in the war, including returning the hostages by force.

Negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, mediated mainly by Qatar and Egypt, have repeatedly fallen through over disagreements surrounding the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disarming of Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

The ongoing talks come two years after thousands of Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting another 250. The resulting war has killed over 67,000 Gazans, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, and triggered a humanitarian crisis. Israel has lost more than 450 troops in Gaza combat.

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With assistance from Sherif Tarek, Dan Williams, Fares Akram and Josh Wingrove.

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