Who Blinks First? Gaza Peace at an Impasse

- Hamas Says Ready to Disarm — If Israel Commits
- Gaza Deadlock: Netanyahu Digs In as Hamas Signals Flexibility

Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law, met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday in El-Alamein to press forward on a stalled American plan for postwar Gaza, hours after a Hamas delegation held separate talks with Cairo's intelligence chief.

The parallel diplomatic activity in the Mediterranean city underscored the fragile state of efforts to move beyond a ceasefire declared last October between Israel and Hamas—an agreement that slowed but never fully stopped Israeli military operations in the territory.

Presidential spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennawy said the Kushner-Sisi meeting stressed the need for all parties to meet their obligations under the Gaza ceasefire. Kushner is expected to travel next to Israel, which has publicly rejected a 15-point roadmap that forms the core of the next phase of Trump's postwar vision.

The roadmap, announced by Trump's Board of Peace, lays out two particularly contentious demands: the disarmament of Hamas and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Both conditions have become the central fault lines in an impasse that has resisted months of diplomatic pressure.  

Hamas officials said Sunday they expected to meet US envoy Jared Kushner in Egypt as Washington pushes to advance a Gaza peace plan that Israel has rejected.

Hamas delegation head Khalil al-Hayya travelled to El-Alamein, where he was due to meet Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad. A Hamas official said the delegation would brief Egyptian officials on what it described as Israeli ceasefire violations and reaffirm its readiness to implement the agreement if Israel demonstrates its commitment.

Kushner has held talks with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators, as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza high representative of the US-backed Board of Peace. Discussions reportedly focus on issues including Hamas disarmament and the group’s withdrawal from governing Gaza. Hamas has said it is prepared to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body under the latest phase of the plan.

Mediators are seeking a broader meeting involving Hamas, Mladenov and US officials before Kushner travels to Jerusalem for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has rejected the agreement, with Netanyahu questioning whether Hamas would fully surrender its weapons. The diplomatic efforts come amid growing frustration over limited progress in implementing the proposed roadmap.