Following Hamas’s initial agreement to a U.S-brokered 20-point ceasefire deal with Israel, the terrorist group continued negotiations with the Jewish state Monday for the possible release of the hostages that have been held in Gaza for two years. Experts say the terrorist group will push for as many concessions as it can get in order to maintain a footprint in Gaza despite U.S. and Israeli efforts to eliminate them from a future presence there.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that negotiating teams from Israel and the terrorist group will meet with officials from the U.S. as well as Arab mediators in Egypt to hash out an agreement to accomplish the first step in a 20-point plan, which calls for the release of the remaining 48 hostages (20 of whom are believed to still be alive) as the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks approaches on Tuesday, which killed over 1,200 Israelis and compelled the Jewish state to launch an offensive to rescue the 250 hostages that were captured.

According to reports, Hamas is demanding a prisoner exchange for the Israeli hostages that would include the infamous terrorist Marwan Barghouti as well as the bodies of deceased Hamas leaders Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar, which Israel has previously rejected. Much work remains on ironing out terms for the remaining points of the plan, which calls for the full demilitarization of Hamas and for a terrorist-free Palestinian technocrat government to control Gaza, which would be overseen by a board governed by the U.S.

Experts like Dr. A.J. Nolte, who serves as director of the Institute for Israel Studies at Regent University, say that Hamas’s initial agreement to the deal makes sense in light of President Trump’s executive order last week that provided a security guarantee for Qatar, a nation that has historically supported Hamas.

“Why is President Trump giving Qatar something and not getting anything in return?” he asked during “Washington Watch” Friday. “I think we now see what Trump has gotten in return, which is that Qatar basically pressured Hamas to accepting this deal in exchange for protection of its territorial integrity from the United States, and a promise that basically Israel is not going to strike on Qatari soil again. What this looks like is a brilliant example of good cop, bad cop by Trump and Netanyahu in hindsight over the past couple of months.”

Nolte went on to explain the complicated relationship that Qatar presents for the U.S.

“I would describe Qatar as a frenemy,” he observed. “… [T]hey will cooperate with us. They see us as part of their security guarantees, and they are part of our security architecture, but they also play both sides against the middle. They’ve been doing it for years. They supported a bunch of Islamists during the Arab Spring. Al Jazeera has been a Hamas [mouthpiece] throughout this conflict, and of course, Al Jazeera is very tightly tied to the Qatari regime. Qatar has had a very complex dance with Iran. So they are definitely wanting to be intermediaries here. … [I]t seems like Qatar has been pressuring Hamas to accept Trump’s deal, because obviously, if Trump had given them this security guarantee and then Hamas had not accepted the deal, this would have been a massive loss of face for Qatar.”

As to what the next steps are for a ceasefire deal to be finalized, Nolte made it clear that there is still a very long road ahead before a clear picture in Israel and Gaza emerges.

“The devil is in the details,” he emphasized. “There’s a lot of good, bad, and interesting in Trump’s plan, but now it looks like we’re going to move on to the implementation phase. I would expect Hamas to try to preserve as much of a footprint for themselves on the strip — covertly — as they can. The U.S. and Israel [are] going to try to prevent that. The real question is who’s going to end up rebuilding Gaza? Are we going to be able to build a peaceful, stable, prosperous future? And will there be an entity in Gaza that is willing to live in peace with Israel? Those are the things to watch in the weeks ahead. But it does look like if Hamas actually follows through this time, we could be coming to the end of this very long war.”