Israel and Hamas prepare for negotiations in Egypt ahead of possible Gaza ceasefire

CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire in Gaza grew after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week.

Tuesday marks two years since the Hamas attack that sparked the war.

President Donald Trump has welcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the U.S. peace plan. Israel has said it supported the new U.S. effort. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.

The delegation led by top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer will leave Monday for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu's office said. An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters, said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks.

Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation “the closest we’ve come to getting all of the hostages released.”

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,’’ he described two phases after Hamas accepts Trump’s framework: The hostages are released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the “yellow line,” where it was in August.

Rubio told CBS that Hamas should release hostages as they are ready, and that bombardment needs to end so they can be released.

The U.S. plan also addresses Gaza's future. In a text exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump said there would be “complete obliteration” if Hamas stayed in power there. Trump also texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending the bombing and peace in Gaza but added, “soon on the rest.”

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Badrosian told journalists that Netanyahu is in “regular contact” with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talks in Egypt “will be confined to a few days maximum.”

“I hope that we are closest to a hostage deal since the (ceasefire) deal in January,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a speech.

Anxious relatives of hostages gathered near Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, with some urging Trump to continue to apply pressure. Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza City led many to fear for the hostages' lives.

“We cannot allow such a historic agreement to be sacrificed again,” said Michel Ilouz, father of Guy Ilouz.

As hundreds of thousands of people marched across several European cities and elsewhere in support of Palestinians, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries issued a joint statement welcoming steps toward a possible ceasefire.

They also underlined their commitment to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank and reaching an agreement leading to a “full Israeli withdrawal” from Gaza.

Rubio told ABC that decisions regarding a governing structure or international group to manage Gaza can take place simultaneously with the ceasefire's first step.

“That’s the part that I think is going to be a little tougher to work through, but that’s what’s going to provide permanency to the end of the conflict,” he said.

Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza, but residents and local hospitals said strikes continued across the territory.

The Israeli government spokeswoman, Badrosian, said “certain bombings have actually stopped inside of the Gaza Strip.”

But Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said that “if the political effort does not succeed, we will return to fight.”

At least eight people were killed Sunday in multiple strikes in Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media said the strikes were against Hamas militants who were a threat to troops.

Four other people were shot dead near an aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel's military said it was not involved.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed the death of colleague Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, who was wounded in an attack Thursday that killed another colleague in Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,139 on Sunday, with nearly 170,000 injured. The ministry does not differentiate how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up about half of the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Israel's military has said it continues to dismantle Hamas infrastructure and warned residents not to return to northern Gaza.

“We’re on the brink, and we don’t know whether one will die of a strike or starvation,” said Mahmoud Hashem, a Palestinian father sheltering in a tent in Gaza City.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Andrew Wilks contributed from Istanbul.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinian women bake bread in a clay oven, using plastic for fire, at a UN school used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians kids stand by a makeshift tent camp along the shore of Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, October 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People attend a protest calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and urges a ceasefire, outside the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Smoke billows over Gaza Strip following an Israeli bombardment, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers drive tanks inside Gaza Strip towards southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians wait to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Smoke billows over Gaza Strip following an Israeli bombardment, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) — Much of northern Nigeria has been struck by conflict in an ongoing security crisis, and U.S. President Donald Trump has singled the country out for what he calls “the killing of Christians” by “radical Islamists.”

Victims and church leaders have reiterated Trump’s claims that Christians are persecuted, saying they’ve long been attacked, kidnapped or killed over their faith.

But many insist the reality isn’t that simple, with experts and residents saying most attacks emphasize the widespread violence that has long plagued the West African nation, where everyone is a potential victim, regardless of background or belief.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

A woman and others who were kidnapped during a church service in November 2024 waves outside her house in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Deborah Reuben, who was kidnapped with others in her community and later released after ransom was paid, clears the grass from a farm in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Deborah Reuben, a woman who was kidnapped with others in her community and later released after ransom was paid, listens to a question during an interview in Kaduna, northwestern, Nigeria, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Haruna Adamu, an imam who said he has lost two brothers in the violence, performs ablutions outside a mosque in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Haruna Adamu, an imam who said he’s lost two brothers to violence, prays with others at a mosque in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Haruna Adamu, an imam who said he has lost two brothers in his country’s violence, leaves after a prayers at a mosque in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

The Rev. Micah Bulus, left, a pastor who was kidnapped along with others from a service in November 2024, speaks with church members in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Tabitha Danladi, a 52-year-old mother of four who was kidnapped in June and later released and told to raise money to free her husband, is shown during an interview with The Associated Press in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. "I've sold everything and they have been collecting ransoms but we don't know if he's still alive," said Danladi. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Idris Ishaq, an Imam who said he lost his grandson, cousin and elder brother in different attacks since 2022, prays at the central mosque in Kaduna northwestern, Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Idris Ishaq, an imam who said he’s lost his grandson, cousin and elder brother in different attacks since 2022, prays at the central mosque in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

A woman walk past a church were worshipers and their pastor were kidnapped during a church service in Nov. 2024, Kaduna northwestern, Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

The Rev. Micah Bulus, right, standing, a pastor who was kidnapped along with others from a church service in November 2024, speaks with church members in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)