Demonstrators including some holding a banner reading "Stop Genocide” take part in a "Red Line" protest in Amsterdam on Sunday, demanding "government action to stop the genocide in Gaza". Huge numbers turned out at pro-Palestinian rallies in Europe on Saturday, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of activists on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the territory. — AFP Negotiators were converging on Cairo on Sunday ahead of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war in Gaza, with Israel's leader expressing hope that the hostages still being held there would be released in a matter of days, reports agencies.
The diplomatic moves came after the Palestinian militant group Hamas responded positively to US President Donald Trump's roadmap for freeing the captives and administering post-war Gaza.
US President Donald Trump said Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line, and that a ceasefire would be "immediately effective" if Hamas also approves.
Meanwhile, despite his assertion that Israel had "temporarily stopped" bombing the enclave, dozens of people were killed Saturday in Israeli strikes with at least 15 more so far Sunday, according to information from Gaza's hospitals.
Trump also said Hamas faces "complete obliteration" if the group refuses to cede power and control of Gaza, amid ongoing efforts to push forward his proposed ceasefire plan.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the administration's hope is to have "90 per cent" of negotiations completed by the time White House officials arrive in Cairo.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he had ordered negotiators to Egypt "to finalise the technical details", while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners".
Egyptian state-linked media had previously reported that the warring parties would hold indirect talks on Sunday and Monday.
Trump also dispatched two envoys to Egypt on Saturday, according to the White House, sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his main Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
The US president warned he would "not tolerate delay" from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly towards a deal "or else all bets will be off".
In a televised statement on Saturday, Netanyahu credited "military and diplomatic pressure" with compelling Hamas to agree to release the captives.
Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 70 Palestinians on Saturday, according to medical sources, even after US President Donald Trump urged Israel to stop its assault following Hamas's partial acceptance of his 20-point plan to end the war.
At least 45 of those killed died in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have intensified operations in recent weeks, driving nearly a million people toward the overcrowded south. Medics said 18 people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on a residential home in the Tuffah neighborhood, which also damaged nearby buildings.
Gaza's civil defence agency said seven children aged between two months and eight years were among the victims. In southern Gaza, an Israeli strike on al-Mawasi - a declared humanitarian zone - killed two children and injured at least eight others. The area has faced repeated attacks in recent months.
Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary reported air raids in Nuseirat refugee camp, saying, "Hospitals are unable to treat all of these Palestinians." She added, "What is happening on the ground doesn't show that there is any type of ceasefire."
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