Talks between mediators and Hamas leaders in Cairo on implementing a US-brokered Gaza peace plan have made rare progress, sources close to the effort said yesterday, although an Israeli official said proposed terms were not satisfactory.
Earlier, Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, including two children, medics said.
A Hamas official and a diplomat close to the Cairo talks said discussions were ‘positive’ and ‘making progress’.
The official said the progress would be tested by Israel’s response and whether this allowed a broad accord to be reached.
However, the Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said Israel had rejected a proposal.
“The 15-point document in question does not provide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections.”
Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Anna Evstigneeva told the Security Council on Tuesday that a roadmap prepared by Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov, had so far failed to gain the support of Israel and Hamas, with the demilitarisation of Gaza remaining the main stumbling block.
The diplomat close to the talks said the negotiations were making progress towards a roadmap that would see all heavy and light weapons in Gaza decommissioned.
Hamas leaders are holding talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye on the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, as presented to them by his Board of Peace, which oversees its implementation.
The plan calls for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.
But progress has stalled in previous months.
Yesterday, a Hamas official said the group was coming with a ‘positive and good’ response, but did not say whether the group had agreed to fully disarm – a key sticking point in the talks over the past four months.
Hamas wants Israel to commit to ending attacks on Gaza and withdrawing its forces.
Sources close to Hamas said the group was willing to ‘confine and store’ heavy weapons under a Palestinian body, not hand them over to Israel.
Hamas did not comment on the matter.
It is not yet clear what will happen regarding light or personal weapons or whether the new Hamas stance will be accepted by Israel or the Board of Peace.
The diplomat involved in the talks said the roadmap under discussion in Cairo would also see authority transferred in phases to the US-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), under the principle of “one authority, one law, one weapon”.
The plan includes the elimination of tunnels, arms stockpiles and weapons production facilities, the diplomat said.
The diplomat described the roadmap as being based on reciprocal steps rather than trust.
So far, the reality on the ground in Gaza remains far from this roadmap.
The Israeli military has continued to expand its military occupation of Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel intends to expand the area under its control to 70 per cent of the enclave.
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