Overview
- Senior Hamas delegates met with Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and U.S. mediators in Cairo on Thursday as diplomats pushed to finalize the second phase of the U.S.-brokered Gaza plan.
- Palestinian sources report Hamas has agreed in principle to hand over weapons but rejects giving them directly to Israel and prefers transfer to a Palestinian body or a third party.
- Key technical issues remain unresolved, including how disarmament would be verified, what happens to light personal weapons, and the timing and scope of Israeli withdrawals and an international security force.
- Israeli strikes have continued during the talks, including the destruction of the Al-Muttaqin Mosque which the Israeli military said was a weapons site and Gaza officials denied, a dispute that risks inflaming opposition to any deal.
- Gaza’s humanitarian crisis persists with health officials reporting more than 60,700 children orphaned since October 2023 and roughly 1,200 killed since the ceasefire, conditions that raise the political stakes and could derail implementation if violence or hardline pushback escalates.