Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday along with Qatar's prime minister and Turkey's intelligence chief for what is expected to be a key day indicating whether progress can be made. A senior Hamas official told the BBC it had shown "the necessary positivity" in the negotiations and submitted a list of the Palestinian prisoners it wanted Israel to release in exchange for the hostages held in Gaza. Israeli media cited officials as saying there was "cautious optimism".

The first two days of the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have focused on mechanisms for ending the two-year-long war in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory, and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza. It is hoped that the presence of heavyweight negotiators will add to the momentum for a deal. Witkoff and Kushner, who served as Trump's Middle East adviser during his first term, flew into Sharm el-Sheikh early on Wednesday. Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi called their arrival "very encouraging", saying they came "with a strong will, a strong message, and a strong mandate from President Trump to end the war in this round of negotiations". Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and the director of Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation, Ibrahim Kalin, also joined the talks on Wednesday. (BBC)