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Hamas heads to Cairo
A Hamas delegation left for Cairo on Tuesday to continue negotiations on implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, with meetings planned with Egyptian officials and mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, as well as representatives of Palestinian factions.
“A delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) left for the Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday”
Asharq Al-Awsat said Hamas sources and Palestinian faction officials told the outlet that Hamas drafted new language on two sensitive issues: the future of the factions’ weapons and the status of Hamas government employees in Gaza.
The proposal would include compromise language for Clause Five, which covers government employees, calling for a legal committee to resolve the issue while protecting employees’ rights under Palestinian law.
For Clause Eight, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Hamas would now include the term “infrastructure,” with its scope and definition negotiated with mediators during the Cairo talks.
Asharq Al-Awsat also reported that Hamas would accept any agreement reached with mediators on the two clauses, provided remaining terms of the first phase were fully implemented.
Optimism, but Israel may block
Asharq Al-Awsat reported that a senior Hamas source warned against excessive optimism, saying there was broad agreement within Hamas on making concessions and denying Israel any pretext to block the deal.
The same source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel could still reject Hamas’s proposals or any agreement later reached with mediators, citing Israel’s upcoming elections.
Al-Sharq said the Cairo negotiations resume on Wednesday afternoon between Hamas’s negotiating delegation led by Zaher Jabarin and Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators.
Al-Sharq quoted Bassam Na’im saying the negotiating delegation aims to “stabilize the ceasefire, and obligate the mediators and Israel’s guarantors to implement the obligations of the first phase,” including “bringing in 600 aid trucks” and “increasing the number of patients, the wounded, and travelers through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.”
Al-Sharq added that the issue of Hamas’s weapons remained the main sticking point as mediators and factions worked to narrow gaps ahead of an Israeli response.
Second phase hinges on aid and withdrawal
The talks are framed around commitments agreed in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh, with Hamas saying the meetings will focus on ensuring humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and the transition to the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
“The visit came two days after Israel approved the deployment of an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip”
CGTN reported that the visit came two days after Israel approved the deployment of an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, and it said the United States announced in January the plan’s second phase.
CGTN said the second phase includes a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, the start of reconstruction efforts, and the establishment of a transitional governing authority.
Middle East Monitor said Israel has continued daily attacks and cited Gaza’s Health Ministry figures of 1,207 Palestinians killed and 3,914 others injured, while also saying Israel restricts the entry of food, medicine, medical supplies, shelter materials and prefabricated homes.
Middle East Monitor described the second phase as including a broader Israeli military withdrawal and the start of reconstruction in exchange for beginning the disarmament of Palestinian factions, while adding that the terms “have yet to be implemented” and Israel insists disarmament must come first.
