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Third-party negotiations working toward a final agreement on a US peace plan to stop the conflict in Gaza have begun in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Middle Eastern and regional officials have indicated that the discussions are centered around "establishing the groundwork" for a potential swap that would see the freeing of all Israeli hostages in compensation of a number of Palestinian prisoners.

Officials declared it agrees to the ceasefire initiative to some extent, but has failed to address several essential conditions - including its disarmament and governance position in Gaza.

Israel's prime minister said on the weekend that he hoped to announce the freeing of detained individuals "shortly"

Conflict Timeline

The negotiations, which will see Middle Eastern officials holding shuttle meetings with representatives from both Israel and Hamas individually, come on the approach of the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israeli territories on the initial attack date, in which nearly 1,200 people were lost their lives and 251 others were taken hostage.

The armed forces launched a campaign in Gaza in retaliation. Since then, over 67,000 have been lost their lives by armed interventions in Gaza, based on data from the territory's local health authorities.

Peace Plan Details

The 20-point plan, which has been endorsed by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggests an quick halt to combat and the release of 48 detained individuals, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive, in return for multiple hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The framework requires that once both sides approve the proposal "complete assistance will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip"

It also states that the organization would have no participation in political leadership, and it leaves the door open an independent Palestinian nation.

Recent Developments

On Friday, the group answered to the plan in a statement, in which the group agreed "to liberate all Israeli prisoners, both alive and killed, according to the exchange formula outlined in President Trump's proposal" - if the necessary circumstances for the transfers are fulfilled.

It failed to address or accept the detailed initiative but said it "reaffirms its commitment to relinquish the management of the Gaza Strip to a governing council of professionals, founded on local agreement and international backing"

The statement made no mention of one of the crucial requirements of the proposal – that the militant group agree to its weapons surrender and to having no future involvement in the administration of Gaza.

Global Perspectives

Gaza inhabitants characterized Hamas' response to the negotiation initiative as unexpected, after multiple days of suggestions that the group was likely to refuse or at least substantially modify its approval of the US framework.

Alternatively, the organization refrained from including its traditional "red lines" in the official statement, a move many consider a evidence of external pressure.

Global and local officials have supported the proposal. The Palestinian Authority, which governs sections of the disputed regions, has characterized the Trump administration actions as "genuine and committed"

The Persian nation - which has been one of the organization's key backers for decades - has also currently expressed its backing of the US proposal.

Current Situation

Israeli bombardment persisted in multiple areas of the conflict zone on the beginning of the week prior to the negotiations starting.

Israel is carrying out an offensive in the metropolitan region, which it has said is intended to achieving the liberation of the remaining hostages.

An official representative, speaking for Gaza's civil protection agency, reported that "humanitarian convoys have been allowed into the urban center since the military operations started four weeks ago"

"There are still bodies we cannot retrieve from zones under Israeli control" he commented.

Countless residents of the metropolitan area have been forced to flee after the Israeli military mandated relocations to a specified safe zone in the south, but further countless people are considered to have persisted.

The military official has warned that those who remain during the combat campaign would be "combatants and their sympathizers"

In the last 24 hours, 21 Palestinians have been fatally injured in Gaza and a additional 96 injured, the local medical authorities said in its latest update.

Global media representatives have been restricted by the government from visiting the Palestinian territory without supervision since the beginning of the hostilities, making verifying claims from all parties challenging.