Negotiators are converging on Cairo today ahead of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of conflict in Gaza, with Israel’s leader expressing hope that the hostages still being held there would be released in a matter of days, AFP reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he had ordered negotiators to Egypt “to finalise the technical details”, while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on “the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners”.