Hamas political leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya has arrived in Cairo for high-level discussions with Egyptian officials. This marks his first visit to the country since assuming leadership of the group in late July. According to reports from the AFP and Anadolu news agencies, al-Hayya is scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Sunday morning.
The diplomatic push comes ahead of a planned visit to Israel and Egypt next week by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. Kushner intends to bridge the divide regarding a Gaza peace proposal that has been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will be joined on the trip by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for the Board of Peace regarding Gaza.
The diplomatic friction follows Netanyahu’s formal rejection of a 15-point roadmap last Sunday, during which he stated that Israeli forces “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.” In response to the ongoing impasse, Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim stated on Friday, “We continue to await pressure from the mediators and the US side on Netanyahu and his government to compel him to abide by the roadmap.”
Military operations in the region remain intense. On Saturday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling, and building demolitions resulted in the deaths of two Palestinians and left 14 others wounded. Since the ceasefire began in October of last year, official Palestinian data indicates that more than 1,250 people have been killed by Israeli fire, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to over 73,300.
The broader regional security outlook remains volatile. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz recently announced that military forces would maintain a presence in designated “security zones” across Lebanon and Syria. Katz emphasized that Israel intends to sustain a continued military footprint across all three fronts, including the Gaza Strip.
The trip follows Netanyahu’s public dismissal of a 15-point plan under which Hamas had agreed to hand its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee.
Source: Aljazeera
