Gaza peace deal talks enter 3rd day as expanded meeting held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh

CAIRO - A plenary session attended by all delegations except Hamas was held on Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV reported.

The expanded session followed bilateral and multilateral meetings in which Hamas had participated through indirect negotiations, the report added. The indirect negotiations entered their third day on Wednesday, with participants including Egypt's intelligence chief, the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, the head of Turkiye's National Intelligence Organization, an Israeli delegation, and a US delegation led by Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and joined by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Delegations from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) are scheduled to arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday evening and join the talks. Their participation could help accelerate progress toward an understanding on the issue of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian source said on Wednesday. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday invited Trump to attend a signing ceremony for a potential agreement to end the war in Gaza, should ongoing negotiations succeed, state-run Nile TV reported.

In a televised speech during the graduation ceremony of the Police Academy, the Egyptian President said the negotiations were "progressing positively," expressing hope that all parties would seize the opportunity to bring the war to an end.