Egypt, Qatar urge seizing Trump plan momentum to end Gaza war

CAIRO – 4 October 2025: Egypt and Qatar called for building on the momentum generated by US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan as an opportunity to stop the bloodshed and end the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians.

The joint call by the two Arab mediators in the Gaza talks come after both Israel and Hamas agreed to move ahead with the first phases of a plan outlined by Trump to halt the war in the enclave and ensure the release of remaining captives.

Cairo is scheduled to host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday, 6 October, to discuss arrangements for a prisoner exchange, said the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The talks will focus on “providing the necessary field conditions and finalizing the details of the exchange of all Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s proposal,” the ministry said in a statement today.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also leading a delegation to the Egyptian capital to start talks on concluding Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, according to media reports.

In a phone call on Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed the importance of leveraging regional and international engagement around the plan to stop the war in Gaza.

The foreign ministers reaffirmed the Arab position demanding an immediate halt to the war, full and unhindered access for humanitarian, relief and medical aid, and categorical rejection of any attempts to displace Palestinians or alter Gaza’s demographic reality.

They also underlined that the unity of Palestinian territories—Gaza and the West Bank—remains the foundation for achieving a two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

‘War at a Major Turning Point’

Hamas on Friday gave a qualified approval on Trump’s 20-point Gaza proposal, agreeing to release all Israeli captives, both the living and the remains of the dead.

Trump’s plan defines post-war Gaza management under a Palestinian technocratic committee supervised by the so-called “Board of Peace,” which he will co-chair alongside former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, remembered for his role in Iraq invasion.

Meanwhile, Hamas agreed to hand over the administration of the strip to “a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing,” without a mention to the foreign board.

Hamas also did not mention the provision of Trump’s plan regarding the demilitarisation of Gaza, a condition that clashes with the movement’s longstanding refusal to disarm while Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories continues.

The plan bars Israel from “occupying or annexing Gaza.” It also acknowledges the Palestinian people’s aspiration for "self-determination and statehood,” though it offers no guarantees for implementation.

Trump commended Hamas’s response, saying he believes the movement is now “ready for a lasting PEACE.”

The Israeli government said it is ready for the "immediate implementation" of the first phases of Trump's Gaza plan.

While Israel reportedly ordered halting operations in Gaza City, home to almost half of the enclave’s 2.2 million population, at least 21 people were killed since Trump urged Israel late on Friday to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza,” according to Reuters.

Hamas and other armed factions still hold around 48 captives out of 251 they took from Israel into Gaza on 7 October 2023.

Most of those released were freed through swap deals mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, while only a handful were recovered in Israeli military raids, including eight alive and 41 bodies.

The remaining captives could be released “within a few days,” a senior Israeli official told Channel 12 on Saturday.

Israel is facing allegations of committing a genocide in Gaza, as per a UN report released in September. Since the start of the war, Israeli forces have killed 67,074 Palestinians and injured nearly 170,000 more, according to the enclave's health ministry.

The war has plunged the enclave into a widespread famine confirmed by the UN. The ministry has reported 459 deaths due to famine and acute malnutrition to date, including 154 children.