Israel-Gaza live updates: Hamas publishes names of 20 living Israeli hostages to be released

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will head to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to join the ongoing peace negotiations on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.

Al Thani’s participation "comes at a critical stage of the talks, reaffirming the determination of the mediators to reach an agreement that would bring an end to the catastrophic war in the Gaza Strip," the spokesperson said in the post.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday couldn’t say what specific guarantees he’s been given from Israel that they won’t resume offensive strikes after the hostages still held by Hamas are released. He only said the U.S. has "a lot of power" to make sure the potential peace deal is adhered to.

"We are very close to making a deal on the Middle East that will bring peace," Trump said in remarks Tuesday.

In the two years since Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel, at least 67,173 Palestinians have been killed and 169,780 others wounded in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

"Among those killed are 20,179 children, 10,427 women, 4,813 elderly people, and 31,754 men," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Of the 38 hospitals in Gaza, 25 are now out of service, leaving only 13 still in partial operation, according to the ministry.

The first round of peace talks -- taking place in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh -- lasted four hours and are still ongoing, a spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry said in a press conference in Doha on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at a Cairo press conference that an American delegation headed by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and hostage and prisoner exchange on Wednesday.

-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz and Nasser Atta

Israel, in the second year of the war, continued hunting militants throughout the Gaza Strip, proceeding at times in block-by-block sweeps of neighborhoods and buildings.

Across the devastated territory, civilian casualties climbed, mass hunger spread and the Israel Defense Forces repeatedly forced large numbers of Palestinians to relocate.

Since returning to office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has twinned a push for a peace deal with apocalyptic threats against Hamas.

This week, Hamas, Israeli and U.S. representatives are gathering in Egypt's Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on Trump's proposed ceasefire deal, which he has framed as "something special" for the entire Middle East.

-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey