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Indirect talks focused on achieving a comprehensive deal on a Trump administration initiative to halt hostilities in Gaza have started in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Local and international officials have reported that the meetings are focused on "establishing the groundwork" for a anticipated transfer that would result in the liberation of all captured Israelis in return for a group of incarcerated individuals.

The group stated it agrees to the ceasefire initiative in part, but has failed to address several crucial requirements - including its weapons surrender and political participation in Gaza.

Israel's prime minister said on the weekend that he expected to reveal the liberation of captives "shortly"

Historical Framework

The discussions, which will involve regional and international officials holding shuttle meetings with representatives from both the conflicting parties separately, come on the verge of the two-year mark of the military operation on southern Israel on the initial attack date, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were seized.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in retaliation. Since then, approximately 67,160 have been lost their lives by armed interventions in Gaza, as reported by the region's Hamas-run health ministry.

Proposal Framework

The comprehensive proposal, which has been agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes an immediate end to combat and the freeing of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be surviving, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The framework requires that once the two parties accept the proposal "humanitarian support will be quickly dispatched into the Gaza Strip"

It also declares that Hamas would have no involvement in administering the territory, and it leaves the door open an eventual Palestinian state.

Current Situation

On Friday, the group answered to the plan in a declaration, in which the group approved "to free all detainees, both surviving and deceased, following the exchange formula specified by the US initiative" - if the required situation for the exchanges are satisfied.

It did not specifically mention or accept Trump's 20-point plan but said it "restates its approval to transfer the administration of the conflict zone to a Palestinian body of professionals, based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support"

The statement omitted reference of one of the essential conditions of the plan – that Hamas consent to its weapons surrender and to ceasing political participation in the leadership of Gaza.

Regional Reactions

Many Palestinians characterized the organization's answer to the peace plan as surprising, after multiple days of signals that the organization was considering denial or at least significantly qualify its endorsement of the American initiative.

Alternatively, the organization omitted its traditional "red lines" in the official statement, a move many view as a indication of international influence.

International and regional officials have supported the initiative. The Palestinian Authority, which controls areas of the Palestinian territories, has described the US president's efforts as "authentic and resolute"

The Persian nation - which has been one of the group's primary supporters for many years - has also now signalled its endorsement of the US proposal.

Ongoing Reality

Armed attacks continued in multiple areas of the Palestinian territory on Monday prior to the talks beginning.

Israeli forces is conducting an combat campaign in the city, which it has declared is aimed at obtaining the release of the remaining hostages.

An official representative, spokesman for the territory's Hamas-run civil defence, stated that "assistance vehicles have been permitted entry to the urban center since the offensive began recently"

"There are still bodies we cannot access from locations under defense force authority" he commented.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza City have been compelled to evacuate after the Israeli military required departures to a designated "humanitarian area" in the south, but hundreds of thousands more are thought to have stayed.

Israel's defence minister has cautioned that those who persist during the combat campaign would be "militants and their backers"

In the last 24 hours, 21 residents have been killed in Gaza and a additional 96 injured, the local medical authorities said in its current assessment.

Foreign correspondents have been banned by Israeli authorities from visiting the Palestinian territory independently since the commencement of the conflict, making verifying claims from all parties difficult.