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Indirect talks focused on achieving a lasting settlement on a US peace plan to end the war in Gaza have commenced in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Local and international officials have indicated that the discussions are centered around "preparing the environment" for a anticipated transfer that would see the freeing of all captured Israelis in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has said it agrees to the ceasefire initiative to some extent, but has failed to address several key demands - including its military demobilization and political participation in Gaza.

Israel's prime minister said on the weekend that he expected to reveal the freeing of detained individuals "in the coming days"

Conflict Timeline

The discussions, which will see regional and international officials holding shuttle meetings with teams from both the conflicting parties separately, come on the eve of the 24-month point of the armed assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 people were seized.

The defense forces launched a campaign in Gaza in countermeasure. Since then, over 67,000 have been fatally injured by Israeli military operations in Gaza, as reported by the area's Hamas-run health ministry.

Initiative Components

The detailed initiative, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlines an prompt cessation to hostilities and the liberation of 48 detained individuals, only 20 individuals are believed to be living, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.

The plan stipulates that once all involved agree to the proposal "complete assistance will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip"

It also declares that Hamas would have no role in political leadership, and it leaves the door open an eventual Palestinian state.

Latest Updates

Recently, Hamas responded to the plan in a announcement, in which the group agreed "to free all captured individuals, both surviving and deceased, following the exchange formula outlined in the American plan" - if the proper conditions for the swaps are fulfilled.

It did not specifically mention or approve Trump's 20-point plan but said it "reaffirms its commitment to relinquish the management of the Palestinian territory to a local administration of independents, based on Palestinian national consensus and regional endorsement"

The declaration failed to address of one of the crucial requirements of the plan – that the militant group consent to its military demobilization and to ceasing political participation in the leadership of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Local residents characterized Hamas' response to the negotiation initiative as surprising, after an extended period of signals that the faction was likely to refuse or at least heavily condition its endorsement of the American initiative.

Instead, Hamas omitted its established limits in the public announcement, a move many interpret as a evidence of international influence.

Global and local leaders have endorsed the plan. The governing body, which governs areas of the disputed regions, has characterized the Trump administration actions as "genuine and committed"

The Islamic Republic - which has been one of Hamas's main sponsors for many years - has also now signalled its endorsement of Trump's Gaza peace plan.

Present Conditions

Israeli bombardment carried on in multiple areas of the conflict zone on Monday ahead of the discussions commencing.

Israeli forces is conducting an offensive in the metropolitan region, which it has said is designed to obtaining the freeing of the outstanding captives.

Mahmoud Basal, speaking for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence, stated that "no aid trucks have been authorized access for the urban center since the campaign commenced four weeks ago"

"Remains persist we cannot retrieve from locations under defense force authority" he said.

Hundreds of thousands of the urban center have been compelled to evacuate after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a specified safe zone in the south, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.

Israel's defence minister has cautioned that those who persist during the combat campaign would be "terrorists and supporters of terror"

In the recent period, 21 individuals have been killed in Gaza and a another 96 harmed, the Hamas-run health ministry said in its most recent report.

Foreign correspondents have been banned by the government from accessing the Palestinian territory without supervision since the start of the conflict, making verifying claims from all parties challenging.