In inconclusive talks in Cairo this week, Egypt sought to ease the tensions between Gaza’s resistance factions and the Board of Peace for Gaza, which remain at odds over the partially implemented Sharm El‑Sheikh Peace Plan signed last October as Israel continues to stall on its commitments.
The talks came against the backdrop of extensive Israeli military aggression against Gaza, in a direct violation of the ceasefire deal that was concluded after two years of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the US. They also came after yet another Israeli suspension of the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians who have been largely clustered in less than one third of the territory.
According to Egyptian government sources, Gaza has been neglected in recent months amid the US‑Israeli war against Iran and Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
“Israel has used this period to expand its grip on Gaza and almost freeze the ceasefire deal. This is a highly contentious situation,” one source said. He added that Israel has dropped commitments to allow continuous humanitarian aid, suspend military attacks, and begin reconstruction, while the Palestinian factions, particularly Hamas, are furious after honouring their part of the deal by releasing Israeli hostages and returning the bodies of those killed during the two‑year war.
“They say that they have done their part and that Israel is getting away with continuous and daily violations of the terms of the ceasefire, and we agree with them,” the same source said.
He added that the current situation means that the very frail ceasefire could collapse at any moment, especially as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might wish to resume hostilities against Gaza if only to accommodate members of his coalition government who are upset by the potential end of the war on Iran at the wish of the US and also by the US limitations that Netanyahu has had to accept with regards to the war on south Lebanon.
“Let’s put it this way: if nothing is done, then the ceasefire will completely collapse, if not today then tomorrow,” the same source said.
According to another source, Egypt wants to try to move things forward by getting the Hamas leaders and the team of Nickolay Mladenov, the US-assigned representative of the Board of Peace for Gaza, to agree “on some kind of movement forwards”.
“Here we have a very big gap because Hamas, supported by other factions, is determined not to move forward in the absence of an Israeli suspension of all military action against Gaza, including the ongoing seizure of territories beyond the yellow line marked on the entry of the ceasefire into effect last October,” he said.
Both sources and a third source with direct access to the talks that Cairo hosted for two days this week said that Mladenov is arguing that Hamas needs to move towards disarmament in order for things to move forward.
“Obviously, Hamas has declined to move in this direction, and they also decline to adopt any plan on the decommissioning of their arms if Israel continues to ignore its part of the deal,” he added.
At the Cairo talks, which opened on Sunday afternoon with representatives from Turkey and Qatar also present, Hamas demanded that the Board of Peace stop enforcing Israel’s will on the movement, according to sources.
It further pressed the board to compel Israel to honour long‑overdue commitments from the first phase of the ceasefire deal, including ending restrictions on the safe and sustained opening of the Rafah Crossing and allowing the free flow of humanitarian aid such as secure tents and temporary caravans.
Hamas, according to the same source, agreed “only to discuss, without making any commitments,” ideas on phase two of the ceasefire deal related to the demilitarisation, security, and governance of Gaza outside the control of Hamas. Hamas has controlled the strip since the massive electoral victory it won in the 2006 legislative elections in Gaza.
However, Hamas has declined to agree in writing, as requested by the team from the Board of Peace for Gaza, to any specific language regarding the second phase. The sources added that Hamas has only agreed to discuss issues in principle and that without an Israeli withdrawal to the ceasefire line and Israel’s honouring of its commitments under the first phase things will not move forward.
According to the same sources, Cairo is in touch with Tel Aviv and Washington over how to get the peace plan moving in the right direction. They agreed that with a view to the tensions surrounding Iran and Lebanon, it is not likely that the US will be very invested in the issue now.
However, the sources said that Egypt is committed to working on the matter to make sure that things can pick up rather than collapse. According to the three sources, who spoke independently, Egypt has secured the approval of Hamas to the International Stability Force (ISF) entering Gaza within the coming weeks to help with a containment plan in order to keep the ceasefire holding.
Sources said that the Board of Peace for Gaza is composed of several thousand ISF members who could begin entering Gaza next month. They stressed that, contrary to Israeli reports, and in line with the board’s position, the ISF will not seek to disarm Hamas or impose conduct rules. Instead, once deployed, its mandate will be to ensure security in Gaza and remove any pretext for Israel to resume military operations against the Palestinians.
The first source said that “we will see how things go because so far and despite the composition of the technocratic government, Israel has been hindering the entry and operation of the members of this government.”
According to the ceasefire deal, a strictly apolitical technocratic government is supposed to be running Gaza without reference to Hamas pending the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to Gaza after it left for close to 20 years in the wake of a 2007 conflict with Hamas.
With direct Egyptian involvement, a technocratic government under the title of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza was composed early this year with 15 members, with Ali Shaath being the chief commissioner. However, Israel has been uncooperative.
On the sidelines of the talks, Egyptian officials have held bilateral meetings with Hamas leaders over the contested election for the movement’s political bureau chief. The post has been vacant since Israel killed Yahya Sinwar in October 2024, less than two months after he succeeded Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in late July.
Gaza‑based Khalil Al‑Hayyah, 65, a deputy politburo chair, is seen as a strong contender, while Doha‑based Khaled Meshaal, 70, who previously led the bureau from 1996 to 2017, is also in the running.
Also subject to discussion in the bilateral talks that Egyptian officials have held with the visiting Hamas leaders were current and future plans for the safety and long-term residence of these leaders, with only a few having accepted that they will have to leave Gaza for good or at least for a long while to come.
Egyptian sources say that the talks with Hamas and the Board of Peace for Gaza will continue at a lower level until progress is made. Since the beginning of the frail ceasefire in October 2025, Israel’s occupation army has killed close to 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including women and children. It has injured close to 3,000 Palestinians in the same period, some with very severe injuries.
Last week, Netanyahu ordered the occupation army to move towards controlling 70 per cent of Gaza. Egyptian officials say that Cairo is well aware of Netanyahu’s plans and is working to bypass them and to get the ceasefire deal implemented.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 11 June, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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