ISTANBUL

Egypt on Tuesday began to discuss the lists of Palestinian prisoners set to be released from Israeli prisons under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, Egyptian media reported.

The state-run Al-Qahera News channel, citing Egyptian sources, said Hamas has demanded clarifications on the mechanisms and procedures required to implement Trump’s plan, and guarantees that Israel will not resume its assaults against Gaza.

Tel Aviv estimates that 48 Israeli captives are being held in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. Around 11,100 Palestinians, meanwhile, remain in Israeli prisons, where they face torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many having died in custody, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Hamas and Israel held a second day of indirect negotiations in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday to reach a ceasefire and prisoner swap under Trump’s Gaza plan.

According to the sources, delegations from Türkiye, Qatar, and the US continued to arrive in Sharm El-Sheikh to participate in the discussions on implementing Trump’s plan.

The Egyptian sources said that Hamas confirmed its readiness to release all Israeli hostages, both living and deceased.

On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point proposal that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire, the disarmament of Hamas, and the rebuilding of Gaza. Hamas agreed to the plan in principle.

The Israeli military has killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable and has led to mass displacement, starvation, and the proliferation of disease.