Trump’s Gaza gamble: Searching for solutions

S President Donald Trump's Gaza Peace Plan has dramatically shifted from a diplomatic proposal to a fragile, high-stakes reality.

- Ausaf Sayeed is a former ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia, Yernen, and high commissioner to Seychelles. The views expressed are personal

Following Hamas's conditional acceptance on October 3 to release all hostages and cede governance, Trump ordered an immediate halt to Israel's bombing campaign. However, with the bombings continuing and causing dozens of casualties, the nearly two-year war, which has claimed over 67,000 Palestinian and nearly 1,200 Israeli lives, has entered a tense and decisive negotiation phase.

On the second anniversary of the October 7 attack, all eyes are on Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where crucial indirect talks are underway. Trump has sent his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the US effort, with delegations led by Israel's Ron Dermer and Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya—who made his first public appearance since surviving an Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar — discussing the plan's ambiguous, contentious details, facilitated by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Nudged by Trump to “move fast”, the discussions have focused on the initial phase of the peace plan, emphasising technical issues such as structuring prisoner and hostage exchanges, ceasing hostilities, and arranging security guarantees. As of now, the talks have not yielded an agreement on a large-scale hostage or prisoner exchange, and no timeline for a ceasefire has been announced, fuelling speculation that the negotiations may be prolonged.