Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least five people on Wednesday, including the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, as Cairo talks reach a fragile juncture.
Israel targeted a group of people in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City on Wednesday night, killing two people including Azzam al-Hayya – son of the acting leader of Hamas's Political Bureau, Khalil al-Hayya. At least nine others were injured in the attack.
Azzam succumbed to his wounds at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital on Thursday morning, according to senior Hamas official Basem Naim.
He is the fourth son of Khalil al-Hayya to be killed in Israeli attacks, one of whom was killed when Israel targeted the Hamas negotiating team in Doha last year. Two others were killed in previous waves of Israeli strikes in Gaza in 2008 and 2014.
Separate attacks on Wednesday killed at least four other people, including a senior colonel in Gaza’s police force, and injured dozens more.
Gaza’s health ministry says 846 people have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire in October 2025. Negotiations hit roadblock over Hamas disarmament Khalil al-Hayya, who has been leading Hamas’ negotiations in the Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, had earlier accused Israel of trying to undermine the diplomatic efforts to push ahead with US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
“These Zionist attacks and violations clearly indicate that the occupation does not want to abide by a ceasefire or by the first phase”, al-Hayya said to Al Jazeera on Wednesday night before the death of his son was confirmed.
Palestinian officials have held talks with regional mediators in Cairo this week as part of the Trump-led Board of Peace’s negotiations led by its envoy, Nickolay Mladenov.
An Egyptian diplomatic official told Al Jazeera that a meeting is expected to take place in Turkey between Hamas and members of the Egyptian and Qatari mediating team with the aim of presenting new proposals for implementing the second phase of the ceasefire.
Besides Al-Hayya, among the members of Hamas reported to have travelled to Turkey are Mohammed Darwish, the head of Hamas’s Shura Council; Zaher Jabarin, the head of Hamas's West Bank Branch; and Khaled Mashaal, the group's diaspora leader.
The Egyptian source added that the negotiations are undergoing a difficult phase due to persistent disagreement between the two parties.
Previous reports suggested Cairo talks had stalled after Mladenov put forward a proposal that conditioned humanitarian aid and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces – which had been part of the first phase of Trump’s Gaza plan – on Hamas disarmament.
The Palestinian group refused the condition, insisting Israel fulfil its obligations under the initial phase and provide stronger security guarantees.
Mladenov said that Trump’s initial 20-point plan remains on the table, with its main premise being that “Gaza will not be governed by Hamas, that all weapons will be collected and put under one single transitional Palestinian authority, and that the Gaza Strip will be de-radicalized and no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
In an interview with Israeli outlet i24NEWS on Thursday, Mladenov claimed that the current ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions was holding – despite near daily violations by Israel, including Wednesday’s deadly strikes – but added that it remained a fragile pause rather than a long-term solution.
The Board of Peace envoy said that US, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt mediators were working on developing a mechanism to oversee the decommissioning of weapons.
He also noted, however, that current financing, especially from the Gulf, was conditional on certain security guarantees being met in Gaza – including the besieged territory’s full demilitarisation.