U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joined the third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas in an Egyptian resort on Wednesday.

They arrived 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.

It is seen as a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.

Egypt’s Qahera News channel showed footage of Witkoff, Kushner and Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator, arriving for the talks.

Hamas says it’s seeking firm guarantees from Trump and 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.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their surprise 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 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 the Hamas-led attack two years ago, militants stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Most hostages have since been released in ceasefires or other deals.

A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide — an accusation Israel denies. More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

In the Gaza Strip, where much of the territory lies in ruins, Palestinians are desperate for a breakthrough.

Thousands fleeing Israel’s latest ground offensive in northern Gaza and Gaza City have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the territory, sometimes using blankets for shelter.