Hamas Announces Exchange of Prisoner Lists in Sharm El Sheikh Negotiations

SadaNews - The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced today, Wednesday, that it has exchanged lists of prisoners and that its delegation participating in the Egyptian negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh regarding Gaza showed "the necessary positivity and responsibility." On another note, the level of representation of delegations in the talks, now in its third day, has increased.

Hamas confirmed in a statement that mediators are making significant efforts to overcome obstacles to implement the agreement, noting that an atmosphere of optimism prevails among the parties involved in the talks.

It added that the negotiations focused on mechanisms to end the war, the withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, in addition to the issue of prisoner exchange, as part of the plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump last week.

Hamas clarified that today, lists of Palestinian prisoners required to be released were exchanged according to the previously agreed criteria and numbers, and that its delegation presented the necessary positivity and responsibility to achieve the required progress and complete the agreement, without providing further details about the number of prisoners included in the lists or the order of their release.

Today, Channel 12 of Israel reported that Steve Whitehouse and Jared Kushner, envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump, arrived in Sharm El Sheikh to join the ongoing talks regarding Gaza, with increasing indications of "making progress."

Also, a reporter from the American Axios website earlier stated that Whitehouse and Kushner left Washington heading to Sharm El Sheikh and that they "will not leave Egypt without reaching an agreement that includes the release of hostages and a ceasefire", amid optimism from U.S. officials about the possibility of reaching an agreement during this week.