(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Israel needs to stop bombing Gaza for an eventual hostage release by Palestinian resistance group Hamas to take place, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.
"I think the Israelis and everyone acknowledge you can't release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop," Rubio told CBS News talk show "Face the Nation."
"There can't be a war going on in the middle of it."
In a text exchange with a CNN reporter released Sunday, US President Donald Trump said "yes" when asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on board with ending the military campaign in Gaza.
Negotiators from Israel and Hamas were set to hold talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh Monday.
Rubio, who appeared on several Sunday talk shows to speak about the situation in Gaza, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that there were "logistical challenges" to address to pave the way for the hostage release.
He also predicted that the longer-term goals would be "even harder" to attain, in terms of how the war-ravaged territory will be governed and disarming fighters.
"You can't set up a government structure in Gaza that's not Hamas in three days. I mean, it takes some time," Rubio told NBC.
Hamas on Sunday called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from both sides prepared to meet in Egypt for crucial talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza.
Foreign ministers from several countries, including Egypt, said the talks were a "real opportunity" to achieve a sustainable ceasefire.
"Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions," a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The diplomatic push follows Hamas's positive response to US President Donald Trump's roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli delegation would be departing for Egypt on Monday.
Cairo confirmed it would be hosting a delegation from Hamas for discussions on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners".
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.
Trump has warned he will "not tolerate delay" from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly towards a deal "or else all bets will be off".
Israel, meanwhile, has continued to carry out strikes.
AFPTV footage showed thick smoke billowing over the skyline of the coastal territory Sunday.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 20 people across the territory, 13 of them in Gaza City.
The US plan, endorsed by Netanyahu, calls for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament -- something the group has frequently described as a red line in the past.
Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 67,139 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures peace plan Gaza ceasefire Marco Rubio

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