• Official says group wants complete Israeli withdrawal
• Qatar questions why Israel hasn’t ceased Gaza operations
• Witkoff-led US delegation to join negotiations today

SHARM EL-SHEIKH/DOHA: On the second anniversary of Israel’s renewed war on Gaza, Hamas has said it wants to reach a deal to end the violence based on US President Trump’s plan, but it still has a set of demands.

The statement signals that indirect talks with Israel in Egypt could be difficult and lengthy.

Trump, however, expressed optimism on Tuesday about progress toward a Gaza deal and said a U.S. team had just left to take part in the negotiations.

“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East” beyond just Gaza, he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Earlier, senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum set out Hamas’s position a day after indirect negotiations began in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Hamas sets out conditions

“The (Hamas) movements delegation participating in the current negotiations in Egypt is working to overcome all obstacles to reaching an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people in Gaza,” Barhoum said in a televised statement.

He said a deal must ensure an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip — conditions that Israel has never accepted. Israel, for its part wants Hamas to disarm, something the group rejects.

Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian “national technocratic body”, he said.

Palestinian factions vowed to maintain armed resistance, while Netanyahu stayed silent on the talks. The US is seeking a ceasefire and prisoner deal, but Qatar says key gaps persist as Israel’s Gaza offensive and global protests continue.

In a related development, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that a US delegation led by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff would join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and prisoner exchange on Wednesday

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Abdelatty said he and Johann Wadephul “had a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, who is expected in Egypt in the coming hours”.

Gaza strikes

In the latest spate of violence, residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and Gaza City in the north reported new attacks by Israeli tanks, planes and boats in the early hours on Tuesday.

Israel and Hamas have endorsed the overall principles behind Trump’s plan, under which fighting would cease, prisoners go free and aid pour into Gaza. It also has backing from Arab and Western states.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said that Israel should have ceased operations in Gaza already in line with US President Trump’s peace plan.

“Regarding the ceasefire, this question should be directed first to the Israeli occupation government. It was supposed to actually cease fire if the statements made by the prime minister there regarding adherence to the Trump plan were true,” Majed al-Ansari told reporters in Doha.

After Hamas agreed on Friday to discuss freeing prisoners under Trump’s plan, the US president had called on Israel to cease fire in Gaza, posting on his Truth Social platform: “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the prisoners out safely and quickly!”.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025