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Third-party negotiations focused on achieving a final agreement on a American ceasefire proposal to end the war in Gaza have started in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials have reported that the sessions are focused on "preparing the environment" for a possible exchange that would see the release of all captured Israelis in exchange for a quantity of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has said it agrees to the ceasefire initiative in part, but has not responded to several key demands - including its weapons surrender and political participation in Gaza.

The Israeli leader said on recently that he expected to reveal the release of captives "soon"

Background Context

The talks, which will involve Egyptian and Qatari officials facilitating discussions with delegations from both Israel and Hamas individually, occur on the approach of the two-year mark of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7th, in which approximately 1,200 people were fatally wounded and 251 people were taken hostage.

The defense forces initiated operations in Gaza in retaliation. Following the initial attack, 67,160 have been lost their lives by Israeli military operations in Gaza, as reported by the region's Hamas-run health ministry.

Peace Plan Details

The detailed initiative, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Israeli officials, suggests an immediate end to combat and the freeing of 48 captives, only a portion are considered alive, in compensation of multiple hundreds of detained Gazans.

The proposal specifies that once the two parties agree to the plan "complete assistance will be immediately sent into the conflict zone"

It also declares that the militant group would have no role in political leadership, and it allows for an future Palestinian sovereignty.

Current Situation

In the latest development, the group answered to the proposal in a announcement, in which the group approved "to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, in accordance with the exchange formula contained in President Trump's proposal" - if the proper conditions for the swaps are met.

It failed to address or approve the detailed initiative but said it "restates its approval to hand over the governance of the Palestinian territory to a governing council of independents, established through local agreement and international backing"

The declaration made no mention of one of the essential conditions of the proposal – that the organization accept its military demobilization and to ceasing political participation in the governance of Gaza.

International Response

Local residents described Hamas' response to the peace plan as unexpected, after an extended period of signals that the group was likely to refuse or at least substantially modify its acceptance of the American initiative.

Instead, the organization refrained from including its traditional "red lines" in the formal declaration, a action many interpret as a sign of international influence.

European and Middle Eastern officials have supported the plan. The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Palestinian territories, has characterized the American initiatives as "sincere and determined"

The Persian nation - which has been one of the group's primary supporters for an extended period - has also currently expressed its endorsement of the American initiative.

Current Situation

Armed attacks carried on in various locations of the conflict zone on Monday prior to the discussions commencing.

Israel is implementing an military operation in the urban area, which it has declared is aimed at obtaining the liberation of the remaining hostages.

Mahmoud Basal, representing Gaza's civil protection agency, indicated that "humanitarian convoys have been authorized access for the urban center since the military operations started four weeks ago"

"Victims remain we are unable to recover from areas under defense force authority" he commented.

Countless residents of the urban center have been required to leave after the defense forces mandated relocations to a specified safe zone in the lower territory, but further countless people are thought to have stayed.

The military official has cautioned that those who remain during the combat campaign would be "combatants and their sympathizers"

In the previous day, 21 residents have been fatally injured in Gaza and a further 96 wounded, the Hamas-run health ministry said in its current assessment.

International journalists have been restricted by Israel from accessing the conflict zone independently since the commencement of the hostilities, making verifying claims from the conflicting groups problematic.