The Latest: Israeli and Hamas officials set to discuss US peace plan for Gaza

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Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks in an Egyptian resort Monday on a U.S. peace plan for Gaza.

The talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by the militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention, according to a statement from Hamas.

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram reported.

The latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the U.S. peace plan, a move welcomed by Trump. 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.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 mostly civilians in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire or other deals.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,160 on Monday. The ministry does not differentiate how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up about half 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.

Here's the latest:

Hundreds of women in Istanbul formed a human chain to express solidarity with Palestinian women and children killed in the war in Gaza.

The demonstration — where participants held hands or stood shoulder to shoulder — was organized by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling party. It came on the eve of the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. That assault, carried out by Hamas-led militants, triggered Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza, which has since claimed more than 67,100 lives.

Similar protests took place simultaneously in Ankara and other cities across Turkey. Many of the women waved Palestinian flags or wore the traditional kaffiyeh scarf.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said Monday the bodies of 19 people, including two aid-seekers killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire, have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. Another 96 were wounded.

The deaths brought the toll to 67,160 since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war, with nearly 170,000 wounded, the ministry said.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on Monday hailed Trump’s efforts to stop the war in Gaza.

“A ceasefire, the return of hostages and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the start of a peaceful political process leading to the establishment and recognition of a Palestinian state mean that we are on the right path toward lasting peace and solid stability,” he said.

He underscored importance of preserving the U.S.-crafted “peace system” in the Middle East since the 1970s, which he said “served as a strategic framework for regional stability.”

El-Sisi made the remarks in a televised address commemorating the anniversary of the Oct. 6, 1973, war with Israel that led to Egypt reclaiming the Sinai Peninsula, where Sharm el-Sheikh is located.

Palestinians in Gaza hope that babies born on the day the Israel-Hamas war began will be able to celebrate their second birthday to the sound of laughter and cheers instead of the cacophony of bombs, missiles and bullets.

Rola Saqer said the two years since giving birth to her daughter Masa have been full of suffering and misery.

Saqer said she was scared for Maza, who is weak and malnourished. Saqer and her husband, Mohammed Zaqout, live in a sparsely furnished tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

It’s much the same for Amal al-Taweel and her husband, Mostafa, who had their son Ali after three years of trying for a child. Now living in a tent inside an alley, Amal said Ali is being deprived of proper sanitation, food, vaccinations and even toys.