Negotiators due in Cairo for Gaza talks: 'It's unclear what exactly they'll be talking about'

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00:00It is certainly not the first time in nearly two years of war that there has been hope for a peace

00:03agreement, but it could be the one with the best chances of success, and at least in recent months.

00:08Even Pope Leo XIV today praised significant progress towards peace there, summarizing rather

00:14widespread optimism brought on after Hamas issued a positive response to Donald Trump's peace

00:19proposal, insisting it is keen to reach a deal. Now, those comments came ahead of a new wave of

00:25indirect talks between Hamas and Israeli negotiators in Egypt. For more, we'll cross

00:31now to our Israel correspondent Noga Tarnopolski. Hi, Noga. So what are the negotiators talking about

00:37this time around? Hi, Erin. Well, the talks are going to start tomorrow in the Egyptian resort of

00:47Sharm el-Sheikh, and it's unclear what exactly they'll be talking about. It's unclear, for one,

00:53because Israel announced yesterday, I believe, that the only subject they are willing to discuss

00:59is the release of the hostages, which is the first step of the 20-principle plan released by

01:05President Trump. But there are many other subjects and many other, I would say, still inconsistencies

01:12between demands being made by both sides separately. And we don't know about the details. But on the

01:18other hand, I also have to say we don't know what they'll be talking about, because there is a sense

01:22that President Trump has dispatched his envoy, Steve Wyckoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner,

01:29and that they're basically coming to the region to bang on the table and say, you guys make an

01:34agreement, come hell or high water. So it is unclear how much leeway there is going to be for these

01:40discussions to take place. I want to point out that President Trump issued kind of warnings to both

01:46sides last night in different posts. He warned Hamas that if they don't release the hostages

01:51within days, he said, or else, whatever will happen. And towards the Israelis, he also kind of

01:58locked Prime Minister Netanyahu in by releasing a map of the possible of a map of the Israeli army

02:05withdrawal from Gaza and saying Israel has already agreed to this. So we're not sure how much room for

02:11maneuvering there will be. But the talks are intended to work out the details that could make

02:17this 20-principle plan happen. Noga, so, I mean, as you kind of suggested there, there's a lot of

02:25pressure from the White House. Donald Trump wants the immediate release of all hostages and for Israel

02:30to stop bombing Gaza. Both sides then facing, you know, again, intense pressure then by the White House.

02:37Very much so. And this really is a first. I mean, the set of 20 principles that was posted and

02:47presented by President Trump is not really different from the proposition brought forth 18 months ago by

02:55the Biden administration. It's almost indistinguishable that Israel at that time rejected it. Hamas didn't

03:01even relate to it. And now we see a White House that appears really intent on making this happen.

03:08And a president who is less interested in the details than in getting results and getting a

03:13victory shot. And that may be the main difference. In addition to the exhaustion felt, I think, by

03:21everyone after two full years of war. Noga Tarnopolski, our correspondent in Israel. Thank you very much.

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