The Israeli security is set to convene an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss a possible resumption of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, following the collapse of a new round of negotiations in Cairo.
Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey over the past two days have stalled after Israel rejected a modified proposal aimed at launching discussions on the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. The meetings were attended by Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s senior representative on Gaza.
According to a leading Hamas source who spoke to Al Manassa, the proposal included the withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip and the completion of the first phase of the plan, which featured the ceasefire agreement reached last October.
The source, who asked not to be named, said, “The situation remains tense, and the latest round of talks has yielded no significant progress,” noting that the mediators had put forward a three-point proposal in an attempt to encourage the two sides to resume negotiations, but Israel rejected it.
He explained that the first clause provided for the entry of the agreed humanitarian aid, at a rate of 600 trucks per day, excluding commercial trucks. The second clause stipulated an Israeli commitment to cease assassination operations targeting members of resistance factions in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The third clause called for the Israeli forces to withdraw from areas west of the Yellow Line where they have expanded more than one kilometer into the Strip over the past few months, seizing another 8% of its territory.
Mladenov conveyed the revised proposal to the Israeli government during a visit to Tel Aviv on April 29, 2026, the source also revealed, but received a negative response. Israel, he added, continues to insist on the disarmament of Palestinian factions as a precondition for any political process.
The source added that, prior to Mladenov’s return to Cairo, the mediators had succeeded in persuading the Hamas leadership to accept the three points. They were also seeking US guarantees for their implementation, alongside the completion of unimplemented points from the first phase. Israel’s rejection, he said, came as a surprise.
In a statement issued on May 1, 2026, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment, alongside other Palestinian factions, to all the terms of the ceasefire agreement, asserting that Israel had failed to implement the first phase and had continued its aggression under the guise of the agreement.
More than 200 days have passed since the signing of the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement, with daily violations continuing, including the worsening humanitarian crisis, the ongoing restrictions on the opening of the Rafah crossing, and the expansion of military control beyond the Yellow Line, Hamas said.
The core dispute remains unchanged. Israel has tied any full withdrawal from Gaza to the disarmament of Palestinian factions, while Hamas refuses to discuss disarmament before the first phase is fully implemented, including troop withdrawal, sustained aid delivery and the launch of reconstruction.
Trump’s plan, agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the start of reconstruction in exchange for the movement’s disarmament. It set out an eight-month timetable beginning with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a US-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, assuming responsibility for security in the Strip, and ending with the full withdrawal of Israeli forces upon “final verification that Gaza is free of weapons.”
To date, Israel has refused to allow NCAG to enter and assume its duties, which Hamas regards as a further breach and a sign of the Israeli desire to continue its aggression against Gaza.
