Hamas says 'optimism prevails' in Gaza talks with Israel

Hamas said on Wednesday that "optimism" was prevailing in indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the Gaza war, with the militant group submitting a list of prisoners it wants released in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages as part of an agreement.

The talks aim to thrash out a plan to implement a 20-point peace proposal put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, and which both Israel and Hamas have responded positively to.

The plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages, Hamas's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

On Wednesday, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Türkiye's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner were all due in Sharm El-Sheikh.

"The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties," senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP from Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Palestinian militant group submitted a list of prisoners it wants to be released in the first phase of the truce "in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers," Nunu added.

In exchange, Hamas is set to release 47 hostages, both alive and dead, who were seized in its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

"There's a real chance that we could do something," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

"I think there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It's something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately."

Trump said the United States would do "everything possible to make sure everyone adheres to the deal" if Hamas and Israel did agree on a ceasefire.

Key to the negotiations will be the names of the Palestinian prisoners Hamas will push for.

According to Egyptian state-linked media, high-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti from Hamas's rival, the Fatah movement, is among those the group wants to see released.

He has been imprisoned since 2002 and was sentenced to life behind bars in 2004 on murder charges.

Regarded as a terrorist by Israel, he often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described by his supporters as the "Palestinian Mandela. "

More broadly, Hamas's top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the Islamist group wants "guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all."

A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team said Tuesday's session included Hamas discussing "the initial maps presented by the Israeli side regarding the withdrawal of troops as well as the mechanism and timetable for the hostage-prisoner exchange."