(MENAFN- Live Mint) Israel-Hamas Conflict: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the war in Gaza has 'not yet' ended. Rubio's remarks come ahead of key delegations representing Hamas, Israel, and Palestinian factions set to begin talks in Egypt, on Monday to negotiate the terms of President Donald Trump's proposed Gaza peace plan.

Rubio described the release of the hostages held by Hamas as the first phase and said that the details on what happens after that still need to be worked out. Rubio told NBC's 'Meet the Press' that Hamas had "basically" agreed to President Donald Trump 's proposal and the framework for releasing the hostages, while meetings were underway to coordinate the logistics of that.

Also Read | Hamas, Israeli leaders head to Egypt to discuss Gaza plan - Will it work?

"They have also agreed, in principle and generalities, to enter into this idea about what's going to happen afterwards," he said.

"A lot of details are going to have to be worked out there." Speaking later to Fox News, Rubio said that nothing was certain.“No one can tell you it's a 100 percent guarantee," he said.

What Marco Rubio said?

Rubio told NBC the US would know "very quickly" whether Hamas was serious or not during the current technical talks to coordinate the release of the hostage .

"Priority number one, the one that we think we can achieve something very quickly on hopefully, is the release of all the hostages in exchange for Israel moving back" to the yellow line - where Israel stood within Gaza in the middle of August - he said.

Hamas has partially accepted of the Trump plan in what is being seen closest the two sides have come to halting the devastating conflict in Gaza in nearly two years since the October 7, 2023 attack .

World Leaders Welcome Hamas Agreement

World leaders on Saturday welcomed Hamas's agreement to release all October 7 hostages in Gaza under a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump calling it a 'significant' step forward and the 'best chance for peace' in the effort to end war in the region.

Soon after the Hamas announcement, US President Trump ordered Israel to 'immediately' stop bombing the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday (US Time) Rubio described the second phase of the long-term future of Gaza as "even harder." "What happens after Israel pulls back to the yellow line, and potentially beyond that, as this thing develops? How do you create this Palestinian technocratic leadership that's not Hamas?" Rubio said.

“How do you disarm any sort of terrorist groups that are going to be building tunnels and conducting attacks against Israel ? How do you get them to demobilize?”

Also Read | Israel, Hamas set for US-backed Cairo talks on Trump's peace plan: 10 points

"All that work, that's going to be hard, but that's critical, because without that, you're not going to have lasting peace," he added.

When did the war in Gaza start?

The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestine conflict dating back to the 20th century

Israel and Palestine have been involved in a conflict for several decades now. The fresh wave of war between began on 7 October 2023 , when Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, were killed. 251 were taken hostage with the stated goal of forcing Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.

What did Trump Plan for Gaza Propose?

President Trump laid out a 20-point plan , backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for ending the Israel-Hamas war and establishing a post war governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory. Trump's plan would establish a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair .

The 'Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict ' calls for Gaza to become“a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours” and pledges redevelopment“for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough”.

'Dealing with killers, savages, and terrorists'

Earlier Rubio lauded the coalition of the Arab nations strung together by US President Donald Trump for ending the Gaza conflict. Rubio, however, said that this was no political coalition, but they were dealing with terrorists.

"We're not dealing with a political movement, we're dealing with killers, savages, and terrorists. But what gives us hope is the coalition US President Donald Trump built that is pushing in the same direction with us to get the hostages released and the conflict resolved," the US Secretary of state said in a post on X.

Trump said on Sunday (local time) that negotiations between Hamas and "countries from all over the world" for the release of hostages and to end the war in Gaza have“been very successful, and proceeding rapidly.”

Also Read | Gazans have a message for Hamas: End the war now

"There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and countries from all over the world (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else ) this weekend, to release the hostages, end the war in Gaza but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East," he wrote on Truth Social .

(With agency inputs)

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