Ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel have stalled in Doha, despite growing Israeli claims of progress and a renewed mediation effort by Egypt’s intelligence chief.
A senior Hamas official told Al Manassa that the ongoing indirect negotiations in Doha are deadlocked, dismissing Israeli statements about new proposals as “disinformation.” He said Egypt’s intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad, traveled to Qatar recently in an attempt to “stir stagnant waters” by holding meetings with both Hamas and Israeli delegations, alongside Qatari officials.
The Hamas leader denied reports that Israel had presented updated withdrawal maps for its military forces in Gaza. “The last map proposed was categorically rejected by the movement and by the Egyptian delegation—it was unworkable,” he said.
In recent days, Israeli media suggested Tel Aviv had agreed to withdraw from strategic areas, including the Morag axis, proposing a 2 km buffer zone. But Hamas accuses Israel of bypassing key negotiation points. “The Israeli delegation attempted to open prisoner exchange files before agreeing on the core issues: aid delivery, a credible withdrawal map, and guarantees to end the war,” the official said.
According to the source, Israel repeatedly introduces “side issues” when partial agreement seems within reach, a tactic he attributed to “internal Israeli and European pressures aimed at prolonging negotiations while draining their substance.”
Negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States resumed in Doha earlier this week. The current proposal involves a 60-day truce, the release of 10 Israeli captives and 9 bodies in exchange for Palestinian detainees, humanitarian aid entry, and a phased Israeli pullback from Gaza.
A well-informed Egyptian source confirmed to Al Manassa that “no new workable maps” were presented by Israel. Cairo, the source said, had previously rejected Israeli proposals for failing to meet “even the minimum requirements for de-escalation.”
Instead, Israeli envoys focused on technical discussions around humanitarian access during meetings in Cairo this week, in coordination with a recent EU agreement aimed at easing the crisis in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Egypt reiterated its opposition to any plans to establish a tent city in southern Gaza. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, in a phone call with US envoy Steve Witkoff, reaffirmed Cairo’s “categorical rejection of any attempts to alter the demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Israeli defense officials have floated the idea of creating a “tent city” in southern Gaza—likely in or near Rafah—to house up to 600,000 displaced Palestinians in tent encampments as a “humanitarian city”.
Under the plan, residents would be subject to security screening, prevented from leaving freely, and housed in fenced areas between strategic corridors. Critics, including UNRWA, Egypt, Palestinian civil‑society groups, and US and Israeli military legal advisers, warn that the proposal amounts to forced displacement or mass detention, raising alarms over legality, feasibility, and security.
“Such measures only deepen the humanitarian catastrophe and derail prospects for a just political solution,” Abdelatty said, as regional tensions continue to surge under mounting civilian pressure in Gaza.
Israel had previously agreed to a two-phase truce beginning in January. But on March 18, it withdrew from the deal and resumed military operations. Mediators have yet to secure a renewed ceasefire.
