Hamas said Tuesday it was working to overcome "all obstacles" as Palestinian militant leaders held indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war.

"The delegation of the movement participating in the current negotiations in Egypt seeks to surmount all obstacles to achieving an agreement that fulfils the aspirations of our people in Gaza," senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised speech.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that Israel should have ceased operations in Gaza already in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan.

"Regarding the ceasefire, this question should be directed first to the Israeli occupation government. It was supposed to actually cease fire if the statements made by the prime minister there regarding adherence to the Trump plan were true," Majed al-Ansari told reporters in Doha.

Indirect talks in Egypt between Israel and Hamas have been "positive" so far, two sources close to the Palestinian militants' negotiating team told AFP on Tuesday, with discussions set to resume around midday.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was meeting Tuesday with Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi in the presence of U.S. officials, a Syrian government source told AFP, after deadly clashes overnight in Kurdish-majority districts of Aleppo city.

It is the first encounter since July between Sharaa and Abdi, head of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and comes as implementation of a March deal between the two on integrating Kurdish institutions in the country's north and northeast into the state has largely stalled.

A U.S. delegation led by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and hostage and prisoner exchange on Wednesday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said.

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Abdelatty said Tuesday he and Johann Wadephul "had a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, who is expected in Egypt in the coming hours".

Two years after Hamas' attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, the militant group is weakened but not defeated, Israel has clobbered its enemies across the region but failed to achieve its main goals, and no one knows how it all will end.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the deadliest on Israeli soil, sparked one of the most devastating military campaigns since World War II, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, flattening vast areas of the blockaded territory and triggering a famine in parts.

Thousands of people converged on southern Israel on Tuesday to mourn the dead as the nation marked two years since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas pressed on with indirect peace talks in Egypt.

The main memorial is being organized by the bereaved families, separate from a ceremony that the government will hold on the anniversary next week according to the Hebrew calendar. The split reflects deep divisions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's leadership, which many blame for the failure to secure a ceasefire that would free the remaining hostages held by the militants.

The European Union is seeking a role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s transitional authority for the Gaza Strip, its top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday.

"Yes we feel that Europe has a great role and we should be also on board with this," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, when asked if the EU wanted to take part in Trump’s "Board of Peace".

Some of the activists detained while trying to reach Gaza by sea have returned to their home countries to describe mistreatment at the hands of Israeli guards, claims that Israel denies.

Some 450 activists were arrested as Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats seeking to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to the famine-stricken territory. Those detained between Wednesday and Friday were brought to Israel, where many remain in prison.

Hundreds of thousands of people across several European cities marched Sunday in support of Palestinians and an aid flotilla 's attempt to reach Gaza.