Israel’s latest bombing kills 63 in Gaza as negotiators arrive for Cairo talks over Trump’s peace proposal

Israel continued the bombardment of Gaza as negotiators arrived in Cairo before talks on Monday. The negotiations will mainly focus on US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal, which entails the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and a broader end to the war, which is inching closer to the two-year mark.

While the hopes for the war to end get stronger, Israel continued strikes on the Palestinian coastal enclave, killing 63 people in the last 24 hours, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign ministry said that the talks on Monday would focus on the first phase of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

The release of the remaining 48 hostages held by Hamas is expected to be the primary concern of the talks. The Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that talks in Egypt would be “confined to a few days maximum” Later on Sunday, Trump said that the talks in Cairo are advancing “rapidly” and the first phase “should be completed this week.”

“I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” Trump said in a social media post. According to Trump, the hostage release in exchange for a prisoner swap would mean an immediate end to fighting in Gaza. It is pertinent to note that, as of now, Hamas has “partially” accepted Trump’s peace proposal.

Rubio raises concerns over long-term challenges

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the Cairo talks were “the closest we’ve come to getting all the hostages released” in an interview with ABC News. However, he warned that the talks between the two sides could still falter over logistics, and the details of the hostage release are still to be worked out.

While speaking to the American news outlet, Rubio noted that there were long-term challenges in implementing the deal, in particular, the creation of a technocratic governing body to oversee Gaza in place of Hamas. He made it clear that the Trump administration’s current priority was the hostages’ release and ensuring Israeli troops withdrew to an agreed-upon line in Gaza.

Trump’s plans, if agreed upon, would mean Hamas releasing all hostages within 72 hours, surrendering ruling power to a transnational authority headed by the US president, and laying down its arms. In return for this, Israel would gradually withdraw its troops from Gaza and return more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal would release a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, parts of which are in famine, as well as reconstruction funds.