Gaza peace talks latest: Trump demands Israel and Hamas ‘move fast’ to end war after strikes kill 24

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the majority of hostage families in Israel, urged the Nobel Committee to award US President Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize.

They said that he had brought them “light through our darkest times”.

“At this very moment, President Trump’s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table,” a statement by the group read.

“For the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over. We are confident that he will not rest until the last hostage is brought home, the war has ended, and peace and prosperity are restored to the people of the Middle East.”

Pakistan has also nominated Mr Trump for the award.

“Stopping the war is the most important step that can be taken, as nothing can justify the continuation of the pain, and no goal is worth the loss of innocent lives,” Basel AlSaqa, a 32-year-old, father of two children, displaced in Al Mawasi told The Independent.

“A ceasefire in Gaza means that children’s screams can stop, mothers can sleep without fear, and people can see light instead of fire. Gaza has needed rest and security for many years because of the pain, separation, and farewells it has experienced.I desperately want a ceasefire to stop the Palestinian bloodshed.

“It is the most important thing for us, the people of Gaza, today. Blood and separation are the foundation of everything. When it stops, we feel a sense of relief. Every bullet that stops means a life saved, a child can wake up safe, and a mother can be reassured that her children are still alive.A ceasefire means that the land that has burned for so long can breathe again and that people can begin the journey of healing after indescribable pain.”

As indirect negotiations begin at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, we look at who will be taking part in the highly-anticipated discussions.

Israel’s delegation will be headed by top negotiator and Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who will join later in the week according to some reports. Hamas’ delegation will be lead by Hamas senior official and former deputy chairman Khalil al-Hayya.

Al-Hayya was one of the targets of Israel’s failed assassination attempts in Doha, Qatar last month.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, according to Egyptian state media’s Al-Ahram.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told The Independent indirect talks in Egypt have just started.

The source said that there was a specific time frame – “there a lot of details to discuss regarding the release of the hostages”.

Reports have circulated that Hamas have expressed concern about the field conditions surrounding the hostage release.

Khalil al-Hayya is the former deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau.

He was the target of an assassination attempt by Israel after it bombed Doha, Qatar, in a move condemned by the international community, including the US. His son Himam al-Hayya was killed in the strike.

Al-Hayya has risen in prominence following the killings of Hamas figureheads Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, and is at the centre of peace negotiations in Egypt on Monday.

“The pain of losing those close to me does not erase the killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip,” al-Hayya said in his first appearance since the assassination attempt.

One son was killed in an Israeli strike in 2008 while leading a rocket brigade, and another son, daughter-in-law and grandson were killed in an airstrike on his home in 2014.

Long-awaited talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have begun, according to Al Qahera News, Egypt’s state TV.

Preparatory meetings were expected to take place between representatives of Hamas, Qatar and Egypt this morning in Cairo, before indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel, a senior Palestinian official told the BBC.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are then to go ahead in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, an Egyptian official and three Israeli sources told CNN. Negotiators from the US, Israel and Hamas were expected to take part.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed hope that an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages will be reached in the coming days, a government spokesperson said.

Mr Merz spoke with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on the phone on Monday.

The spokesperson added that Hamas should lay down its arms.

According to Israeli media it would focus on building a transitional governing body which would ultimately return power to the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, as part of “a pathway towards a Palestinian state”.