Cairo/Washington — US President Donald Trump urged negotiators to “move fast” ahead of indirect talks in Egypt on Monday aimed at halting the Gaza war, saying “time is of the essence or massive bloodshed will follow.”
The appeal comes after Hamas said it agreed to parts of a 20-point US plan — including releasing some hostages and ceding Gaza’s administrative control to a technocratic Palestinian authority — while seeking negotiations on other elements. The group’s response did not address two core US-Israeli demands: Hamas’s disarmament and its exclusion from Gaza’s future governance.
Posting on social media, Trump called earlier contacts “very successful,” adding the first phase “should be completed this week.” Asked about flexibility, he said, “we don’t need flexibility because everybody has pretty much agreed,” while acknowledging “there will always be some changes.”
Despite the diplomacy, Israeli strikes continued in Gaza over the weekend. Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said there was no ceasefire, though “certain bombings have actually stopped,” and that troops retained orders to fire “for defensive purposes.” Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported 65 deaths in the 24 hours to midday Sunday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS that bombing “has to stop” to enable a hostage release, while warning that logistics must also be resolved. Trump separately predicted hostages would start to be freed “very soon.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to announce a release “in the coming days” and has dispatched a delegation to Cairo, where talks will be “confined to a few days maximum,” Bedrosian said.
Participants expected in Cairo include a Hamas team led by Khalil al-Hayya, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. A senior Palestinian official said Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish mediators pressed Hamas to soften its public “red lines” and defer disputes over weapons and post-war governance to the negotiating table.
Trump also posted that Israel had agreed to an initial withdrawal line inside Gaza — the first in a series of staged pullbacks — a map that, according to population data, would still prevent nearly 900,000 Palestinians from returning home in the first phase. Hamas rejected similar proposals in talks earlier this year.
Israel’s campaign followed the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages. Since then, 67,139 people have been killed in Gaza, the enclave’s health ministry says. Independent access for international journalists remains barred by Israel, complicating verification of battlefield claims.
With mediators converging on Cairo, the coming days are likely to determine whether the current opening can translate into a ceasefire and a structured path out of nearly two years of war.
