Hamas is engaged in ongoing talks in Cairo with the US-backed "Board of Peace’s" High Representative for Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov , as well as representatives from mediating countries including Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, as Gaza marked six months of a ceasefire violated on a near-daily basis by Israel.
The latest round of discussions follows meetings held last weekend, during which Mladenov met a delegation of senior Hamas officials in Cairo . The delegation was subsequently informed that the Gaza oversight body was to finalise a disarmament agreement by the end of the week as part of efforts to implement the second phase of the Trump-brokered ceasefire deal reached last October. However, last week’s talks ended without a breakthrough, and the current negotiations are aimed at making further progress on key elements of US President Donald Trump ’s plan to end the Gaza war.
Sources familiar with the discussions told The Times of Israel that Hamas was expected to give its final answer to the disarmament proposal in the coming days, potentially slightly beyond the Saturday deadline set by the Board of Peace. A diplomat told the Israeli news outlet that mediating countries were exerting significant pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal, but the group is "unlikely to say ‘yes’ without significant caveats". During last week’s discussions, Hamas representatives raised concerns over an incomplete implementation of the first phase of the agreement, amid deadly Israeli violations.
Hamas also cited the limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing , insufficient aid deliveries, continued Israeli strikes deep inside Gaza, and the extension of the so-called Yellow Line in the territory. On Friday, Gaza’s government media office rejected claims by Mladenov that 602 aid trucks had entered the enclave the previous day, stating that only 207 trucks had crossed into Gaza, including 79 carrying humanitarian assistance. Gaza authorities claimed that the remaining trucks carried commercial goods and that the total number fell far short of humanitarian needs- adding that the level of aid entering the territory does not reflect the scale required.
The Gaza government media office also accused Israel of implementing only 38% of the agreed humanitarian provisions under the ceasefire. "Distorting the facts cannot conceal the scale of the catastrophe, nor does it absolve any party of its legal and humanitarian responsibilities," it said in a statement, calling for international intervention to protect civilians. The broader plan envisions an eight-month process, beginning with a technocratic Palestinian committee taking control of security in Gaza and ending with a full Israeli withdrawal once the territory is verified as "free of weaponry". The plan requires Hamas to disarm, with Mladenov warning last week of consequences if the group refuses, writing on social media platform X: "He who will not cross the river will drown in the sea."
These developments come as Gaza marks six months since the ceasefire was declared on 10 October 2025. However, Israeli violations of the ceasefire have killed 738 people since then.
The overall death toll from Israel's genocidal war, which began in October 2023 stands at least 72,317 people - mostly civilians. Despite sustained pressure on Hamas to disarm, Israel is not being asked to take any measures that will reassure Palestinians that it will not attack Gaza.
The six-month anniversary of the ceasefire is taking place at a time when global attention has turned to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz . Just days after the US-backed Board of Peace was launched with $7 billion in pledges, the United States and Israel launched an unprovoked war on Iran in the midst of negotiations over its nuclear programme. A scorecard released by five international aid organisations on Thursday said the ceasefire plan in Gaza is largely failing on humanitarian grounds, noting that aid deliveries dropped sharply and prices of basic goods surged. The report added that progress on humanitarian access has generally required sustained high-level diplomatic pressure, particularly from the US, but such pressure has not been applied consistently or at the scale needed to ensure full implementation.