These discussions are expected to be among the most consequential since the start of the war and could determine whether a path toward ending the conflict is finally within reach.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani are among those attending.
Donald Trump, writing on social media, has urged everyone involved in efforts to end the Gaza war to “move fast” and says he has been told the first phase of the peace plan – which includes the hostage release – “should be completed this week”.
The 20-point plan, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.
The plan stipulates that once both sides agree to the proposal “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip”.
It also states that Hamas would have no role in governing Gaza, and it leaves the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.
However, after the plan was announced publicly a week ago, Netanyahu reinstated his longstanding opposition to a Palestinian state, saying in a video statement: “It’s not written in the agreement. We said we would strongly oppose a Palestinian state.”
On Friday, Hamas responded to the proposal in a statement, in which the group agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal” – if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.
It did not specifically mention or accept Trump’s 20-point plan but said it “renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.”
The statement made no mention of one of the key demands of the plan – that Hamas agree to its disarmament and to playing no further role in the governance of Gaza.
It added that the part of the proposals dealing with the future of Gaza and the rights of Palestinian people was still being discussed “within a national framework”, of which it said Hamas will be a part.