A Hamas delegation and the director-general of Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" are due to meet on Tuesday in Cairo for the second time in recent days , amid efforts to move onto the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
Hamas is expected to submit its response to Nickolay Mladenov on the outline concerning stage two of the truce, which includes their disarmament, but the Palestinian group has signalled to other factions that it isn't prepared to heed to this demand unless it receives a clear commitment that Israel will implement the terms of the ceasefire's first phase, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz .
A Palestinian official told Haaretz that Hamas was seeking the improvement of the humanitarian situation in the Strip, the entry of 600 aid trucks as per phase one of the ceasefire, and the entry of the Palestinian technocratic committee into the enclave.
Hamas is also asking that Israeli forces halt near-daily violations in the enclave , which have killed over 750 Palestinians since 10 October 2025.
Phase two also calls for Israel's withdrawal from the so-called Yellow Line, as well as the beginning of the Gaza Strip's reconstruction.
Hamas has repeatedly refused to lay down its weapons unless a number of conditions are met, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Members of Hamas's military wing who reside in the Gaza Strip have particularly refused to give up arms.
Hamas is likely to refuse this demand, and the deadline given to the group could be extended again, a source involved in the discussions told the Israeli newspaper. Zikim crossing reopens The Zikim crossing north of the Gaza Strip was opened for the first time in over a month, the United Nations said on Monday.
The crossing’s reopening will allow for the entry of goods into the enclave for the first time in 40 days, after a prolonged closure by Israeli authorities.
Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesperson, said the reopening will "help address a critical need by allowing supplies to enter northern Gaza directly, so we don't have to truck them from the south".
Dujarric added that supplies had been offloaded there over the weekend, and that the collection of "food, nutrition, and other humanitarian items" from the World Food Programme and UNICEF restarted on Monday.
Israeli authorities closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip as part of a "security measure" amid the US and Israeli assault launched in Iran on 28 February , leaving the Palestinian enclave’s exhausted and starved two million residents with even less humanitarian relief than before.
Dujarric also warned that a number of "major constraints remain," including Israeli customs requirements that can cause delays, a lack of security scanning capacity, and "blanket bans on certain partner NGOs and UN agencies" .
This follows the reopening of the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in the south, and the Rafah border crossing, also in the south.
A source at the crossing told The New Arab that close to 100 trucks were scheduled to enter through the crossing on Monday, representing a limited addition to the total number of trucks entering the Strip daily, given the continued reliance on the Karem Abu Salem crossing as the primary entry point for goods.
The goods that entered with the reopening of the Zikim crossing ranged from items such as vegetables, fruits, clothing, and soft drinks, the source said.
In recent months, the Gaza Strip has only received around 200 trucks a day, while the ceasefire agreement with Israel stipulates that at least 600 should enter the enclave on a daily basis.
In another violation of the ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in Beit Lahia in the enclave’s north on Tuesday.
The man was reportedly killed in the city’s Al-Alami district after Israeli warplanes fired in the area.
At least three people were killed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah , central Gaza Strip, on Monday, while another Palestinian was killed following a strike on a cafe in Gaza City.
Despite a ceasefire put in place in October of last year, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians since then.
At least 72,320 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, amid Israel's genocidal war on the enclave.
Gunfire from Israeli helicopters was also reported in areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military also demolished a number of homes east of the Zeitoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City, in the early hours of Tuesday. West Bank raids, attacks Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank , Israeli forces raided the town of Bal’a in the Tulkarem area in the early hours of Tuesday. The incursion saw the arrest of dozens of Palestinian men, and the searching of several homes, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said. Both foot patrols and armoured vehicles were heavily deployed throughout the town, it added.
Footage shared on social media showed Israeli forces blindfolding and "parading" the Palestinian detainees in the town, appearing to humiliate them amid the ordeal.
Raids were also reported elsewhere in the West Bank, mostly by settlers.
In the Salfit governorate , Israeli settlers stormed the town of Kafr Haris, throwing stones at Palestinian homes, damaging property, and causing panic among residents.
In Nablus , two men sustained injuries after being assaulted by a group of settlers in the Jabal Sabih area of the town of Beita, south of the city.
Meanwhile, in the occupied East Jerusalem area, groups of settlers attacked the village of Khan al-Ahmar, carrying out assaults and harassing residents.
This comes after the far-right Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir , stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, claiming "ownership" of the site amid his attempts to expand Jewish worshipper access across the compound.
Attacks on Palestinians and their towns have increased dramatically in parallel with the war in Gaza, as well as Israel's joint military operation with the US in Iran.