Delegations from Hamas and Israel on Monday began indirect talks in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh on ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza, under a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian state intelligence, said the delegations “are discussing preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners”.

“Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, it added.

Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators are to speak through mediators shuttling back and forth, only weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamas’s lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar.

Hamas’s lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who

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