Middle East: US, Turkey, Qatar envoys arrive for Gaza talks – DW – 10/08/2025

Two years of war in Gaza have devastated Rozan Al Madhoun’s life. Once a pharmacy student, she now lives in a tent after losing many members of her family in an Israeli airstrike. Amid displacement and destruction, she continues working as an assistant pharmacist for fellow refugees. Al Madhoun’s story reflects the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which the UN has described as genocide.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday evening said talks in Egypt on stopping the war in Gaza have “made a lot of headway,” adding that he expected a ceasefire would be declared soon after an agreement is made. 

Fidan told reporters that technical details of a 20-point plan laid out by US President Donald Trump were “being discussed at the moment,” adding that “if the positive views are heard today, the necessary steps will be taken for the first part of the agreement.”

“If an agreement is reached today, a ceasefire will be declared,” he said.

Sticking points on the peace plan have been the requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.

However, Fidan said both sides “showed great will for the release of the prisoners and the hostages.”

The peace plan calls for Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds in Gaza, thought to number around 20, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. 

Turkey is one of the parties represented in the indirect talks in Egypt, along with the US, Qatar and Egypt.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Palestinian militant group Hamas should agree to US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the return of the Israeli hostages.

Speaking to the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house, Wadephul said the goal should be “a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security and dignity.”

Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan agreed, speaking of a “unique opportunity for peace.”

“The opportunity must not be wasted,” she said, also promising short-term humanitarian aid and help in rebuilding the Gaza Strip “as soon as the ceasefire comes into effect.”

Currently being negotiated in Egypt, US President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza has reignited hope for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held for two years now by Hamas.

Families have intensified pressure on the Israeli government.

“Ministers took pride in torpedoing past deals,” said Einav Zangauker, the mother of the hostage Matan Zangauker, “but this time we will not let the agreement fall.”

In exchange, Israel may release more than 1,900 Palestinians it is holding, including such high-profile figures as Ibrahim Hamed and Marwan Barghouti.

US, Israeli and Hamas delegations are taking part in the second day of indirect talks in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages taken during the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.

The negotiations between Israel and Hamas are indirect, meaning that they’re taking place through mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar. Here’s how each side is represented:  

US: Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff is taking part in the talks, along with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.   

Israel: Mossad and Shin Bet officials are representing the Israeli side. Ophir Falk, a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is also at the talks, along with hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch.   

Hamas: Khalil al-Hayya is leading the group’s delegation. He recently survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar, that killed his son.

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani are also set to join the talks on Wednesday.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Wednesday in a move Hamas ceasefire negotiators called a direct “provocation.”

In a video of his visit, Ben-Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure “complete victory” over Hamas in Gaza.

“Every house in Gaza has a picture of the Temple Mount, and today, two years later, we are winning on the Temple Mount. We are the owners of the Temple Mount,” Ben-Gvir said, using the Israeli name for the hill the mosque sits on, which was the site of two ancient Jewish temples. The area is sacred to Christians, as well.

Access to the area is tightly controlled, and visits by Israeli officials are regarded as highly controversial.

US, Israeli and Hamas delegations in Sharm El-Sheikh are discussing US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.  

The proposal envisions Gaza as a “de-radicalized terror-zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.” 

The plan also advocates for the formation of a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” to take charge of Gaza, with Hamas giving up power.

Under the plan, Israel must not occupy or annex Gaza, with the US and Arab-backed temporary International Stabilization Force deployed in the Gaza Strip. 

Jordan and Egypt would assist in vetting Palestinian police forces in Gaza to ensure security.     

A senior Egyptian official told the Associated Press that Hamas urged security guarantees that Israel won’t resume fighting once the militant-Islamist group releases the hostages.

Trump’s 20-point plan also allows for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel once Hamas releases the Israeli hostages.  

Reuters news agency reported that US officials are focusing first on a stop to the fighting and the logistics of how Israeli hostages would be released from Gaza.

Hamas is believed to be currently holding 48 Israeli hostages, with less than half of them still assumed to be alive.

The Hamas delegation at the talks in Egypt said it had presented a list of Palestinians whom it wants released from Israeli prisons along with a list of Israeli hostages who would be released if a ceasefire deal were reached.

In a statement, the group’s leadership emphasized how seriously all parties were taking negotiations, and said: “Mediators are making significant efforts to remove any obstacles to the steps for implementing a ceasefire and a spirit of optimism is prevailing among everyone.”

Key for the approval of any final deal, Hamas representatives said, is a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

For the second time in a week, a flotilla of boats attempting to breach the 18-year blockade of Gaza to deliver aid has been stopped by the Israeli navy.

“Three vessels … have been attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli military” about 220 kilometers (140 miles) off the coast of Gaza early Wednesday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced.

It said another ship, which was carrying some 90 journalists, doctors and activists, was also “under attack.”

According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the affected boats were carrying “vital aid worth over $110,000 (€95,000) off the coast of Gaza in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies that were destined for Gaza’s starving hospitals.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the flotilla was stopped, saying “another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing,” adding that the passengers would be deported.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are all set to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday as truce talks between Israel and Hamas kick into high gear.

“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,” US President Trump told reporters in the White House. 

He said the United States would do “everything possible” to make sure that Hamas stuck to the conditions of the ceasefire.

Among the terms of the 20-point plan is the release of all Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed buffer zone, increased aid deliveries to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the creation of an interim government for Gaza led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
 

Truce talks between the Israeli government and the militant group Hamas continue in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday. Based on a 20-point plan prepared by US President Donald Trump, the framework has been hailed as the best possibility for a lasting ceasefire since the war in Gaza began two years ago.

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