Overview

• Delegations are meeting in Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh, with Israel sending security officials and Ron Dermer expected later, while the U.S. dispatches Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
• President Trump says discussions are moving quickly and urges teams to "move fast," as Secretary of State Marco Rubio says strikes must pause to enable hostage releases.
• The first phase under discussion would exchange about 47 remaining hostages—roughly 20 believed alive—for 250 prisoners serving life sentences plus more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza.
• Mediators seek a comprehensive deal rather than a phased process, with unresolved issues including Hamas disarmament, Gaza’s future governance and the sequencing of Israeli military withdrawals.
• Fighting continued with new deaths reported in Gaza, Israeli politics remain split with hardline ministers threatening the coalition, and a separate report documents a sharp global rise in antisemitic incidents since October 2023.