Cairo (AFP) — Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are due to convene in Egypt for talks on Monday, with President Donald Trump urging negotiators to “move fast” to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump’s proposal for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Hamas’ lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was to meet with mediators from Egypt and Qatar in Cairo Monday morning, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group told AFP, ahead of talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Negotiations will look to “determine the date of a temporary truce,” the official said, as well as create conditions for a first phase of the peace plan, in which 47 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

Posting on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, the US president praised “positive discussions with Hamas” and allies around the world including Arab and Muslim nations.

“I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” Trump wrote.

Foreign ministers from several countries, including Egypt, said the talks were a “real opportunity” to achieve a sustainable ceasefire, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hope that the hostages could be released within days.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the discussions in Egypt.

“You can’t release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop,” Rubio told CBS.

Netanyahu said the Israeli delegation would be departing for Egypt on Monday for the talks, due to start on the eve of the second anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war.

The White House said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt — his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.

“During communications with mediators, Hamas insisted that it is essential for Israel to halt military operations across all areas of the Gaza Strip, cease all air, reconnaissance, and drone activity, and withdraw from inside Gaza City,” a Palestinian source close to Hamas said, adding the group would “also halt their military operations” in parallel.

According to Trump’s plan, in return for the hostages, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested during the war.