Egypt Warns Israel Against Expanding Gaza Occupation As Hamas Delegation Meets Cairo

Egypt launched an urgent diplomatic intervention to rescue a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement that is on the brink of collapse, warning Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza as deadly air strikes intensify.

“Egypt has launched an urgent diplomatic intervention to rescue a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement that is on the brink of collapse”

Al Jazeera

An Egyptian intelligence official told Al Jazeera that Egypt invited a senior Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya for urgent talks, describing contacts between the parties as intense and saying Cairo was racing to arrange negotiations before the end of the week.

Al Jazeera

The Al Jazeera report said at least 141 Palestinians have been killed in the last two weeks in an intensification of Israeli attacks, and it cited a directive from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the military to expand the area under its control from 53% to 70%.

Al Jazeera also said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz triggered regional outrage by publicly reviving a blueprint for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of the enclave, and Cairo rejected measures designed to push Gaza’s residents toward voluntary emigration or direct Palestinians towards the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net said Cairo invited Hamas’s negotiating delegation led by Khalil Al-Hayya to come to Cairo to resume negotiations regarding the transition to the second phase of the agreement signed last October, warning that Netanyahu’s directives to seize 70% of Gaza contradict the American President Donald Trump’s proclaimed peace plan.

With the deadline for responding on demilitarization having passed, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo led by Khalil al-Hayya to negotiate with Egyptian officials regarding completion of the implementation of the provisions of the Sharm El-Sheikh ceasefire agreement for the Gaza Strip.

Mont Carlo Internationale said the delegation was scheduled to hold meetings with Nikolai Miladinov and representatives from Palestinian factions and Egyptian authorities, with understandings revolving mainly around Hamas’s demilitarization, described as the most sensitive and complex file at this stage.

Al-Jazeera Net

The report said Miladinov’s plan, presented to the Security Council in late March, includes Hamas’s commitment to dismantle the tunnel network and gradually relinquish its weapons over a period of eight months in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while Tel Aviv insists on Hamas’s demilitarization as a prerequisite before any potential withdrawal.

Arabicpost.net described Egypt’s push to salvage Gaza negotiations and seek a middle ground between disarming Hamas and Israeli withdrawal, saying Cairo, along with Qatar and Turkey, moves within a framework to seek a balance between international and Israeli pressures and the demands of Hamas and Palestinian factions.

Arabicpost.net also reported that Hamas said in a Telegram post that its delegation, led by Khalil al-Hayya, concluded on Friday, April 3, 2026, its visit to Cairo after meetings with Egyptian officials, mediator brothers, and Palestinian factions.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamas said the ceasefire was on the brink of collapse due to repeated Israeli violations and called on the US and guarantor countries to take “serious and urgent” steps to compel Israel to honour its commitments.

“At a time when Cairo is preparing to resume a new round of negotiations between Hamas and the representative of the Council for Peace, an international initiative led by Nikolai Miladinov has come to the fore, based on disarming Hamas within a defined timetable, in exchange for political and security arrangements including governing the Gaza Strip and the future of the Israeli presence there”

Arabicpost.net — Arabi Post

The same Al Jazeera account said despite a ceasefire still being in place, at least 929 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October, and it tied Egypt’s contacts with US officials to asking President Donald Trump to urgently restrain Netanyahu given the recent Israeli escalations in Gaza.

Al-Jazeera Net said Cairo sent a warning message rejecting measures that would direct residents of the Gaza Strip toward voluntary migration and push them toward the Rafah crossing under unilateral actions, and it cited the Egyptian rejection of Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz’s statements about displacement.

In the Mont Carlo Internationale report, Israel’s behavior was described from Hamas’s perspective as an unstable or unclear element, and it said the success of negotiations remained contingent on clear Israeli commitments and the mediators’ ability to provide real guarantees to the Palestinian side.

Arabicpost.net added that mediators’ offers to Hamas and Palestinian factions were “merely recommendations and advice,” and it said no party wanted to impose its view while the disarmament issue remained extremely complex and tied to guarantees about withdrawal and the future of a Palestinian state.