Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, right, shakes hands with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, left, as they speak with U.S. President Donald Trump before a state dinner at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, on May 14. (AP file photo)

CAIRO — The United States’ top Middle East adviser, the prime minister of Qatar and other senior officials joined the third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas in an Egyptian resort on Wednesday, a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.

Hamas says it’s seeking firm guarantees from mediators that Israel won’t resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the militant group releases all the remaining hostages.

All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of the Gaza Strip destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven’t been agreed to, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.

In a sign the talks were going well, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s considering a trip to the Middle East within a matter of days.

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week,” Trump said from the White House on Wednesday as he opened a roundtable event on a different matter. The trip could occur on Sunday, Trump said, adding that “negotiations are going along very well.”

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh for the discussions, as did Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser, Ron Dermer.

Representatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were also in attendance, and a delegation from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another fringe militant group that holds an unknown number of Israeli hostages, were scheduled to arrive, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. Their participation underscores the aim of the talks to encompass all Palestinian groups.

A senior Hamas official, Taher Nounou, said the group has provided a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israel in return for hostages in Gaza as part of the deal.

Trump plan

The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the war and triggered Israel’s devastating retaliation. Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.

It envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force moving in. The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Wednesday in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging.”

Netanyahu has already accepted Trump’s plan. His office said Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic,” framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved.

In a statement Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted. Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.

In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Under the agreement — which Trump and Witkoff played a major role in brokering — the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release.

But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases.

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AP reporters Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Seung Min Kim and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war