US special envoy Steve Witkoff to lead a delegation into Cairo to hold high-stakes talks with Israeli and Hamas negotiators to end two-year-long war in Gaza, focusing first on “the immediate release of all hostages,” according to media reports. “Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Egypt later today to finalize the technical details of the hostage release and discuss the lasting peace deal,” a White House official told Axios on Saturday. The summit marks the opening phase of President Donald Trump’s 21-point Gaza peace plan, which has received tentative support from both sides. This comes after Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas on Friday, demanding agreement to the peace deal by Sunday, 6 pm (Washington DC time), warning that “all hell, like no one has ever seen before,” would ensue if the deadline was not met. Responding to the ultimatum, Hamas announced on Friday that it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, both alive and deceased, under the terms of Trump’s Gaza proposal. The terror group also expressed readiness to immediately enter mediated talks to finalise the details. In its statement, Hamas said it agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal” — provided the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.Steve Witkoff, the US envoy to the Middle East, has already spearheaded negotiations that led to the release of all living US hostages. Kushner, married to Ivanka Trump, served as the top Middle East envoy during President Trump’s first term.
