Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the U.S. was hoping for a quick deal to bring home all hostages in Gaza in exchange for a partial Israeli withdrawal from the territory as Israel and Hamas headed into a new round negotiations.
Mr. Rubio, speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” acknowledged that the next phase of negotiations on President Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war would be tougher, touching on fraught issues such as disarming Hamas and setting up a new government for Gaza that excludes the Palestinian militant group.
Asked whether the two-year-old war was over, Mr. Rubio responded: “Well not yet. There’s some work remains to be done.” He went on to say that Hamas had “agreed to the president’s hostage release framework.”
Mr. Rubio spoke a day before a new round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, conducted through mediators, was expected to begin in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Ron Dermer, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, will lead Israel’s delegation. Hamas officials did not respond to requests for comment on who would attend from their side.
The Cairo talks are expected to focus on swapping the remaining hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners — one component in the sweeping proposal released by Mr. Trump last week. Mr. Rubio suggested that this focus would leave negotiations on other formidable obstacles to ending the war until a later stage.
Israel believes that about 20 living hostages still remain in Gaza, as well as the bodies of at least 25 others. It is unclear whether Hamas would free the hostages before concluding the rest of an agreement to end the war as it views the captives as the most significant leverage it has with Israel.
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