Gaza ceasefire standoff
Ceasefire talks over Gaza remain stalled because the parties disagree on disarmament and implementation steps, with Hamas set to meet Egypt over alleged Israeli violations. Israel says Hamas cannot keep weapons under any final deal, while Hamas insists disarmament cannot be discussed until the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire is fully in place. (trtworld.com, jpost.com)
Gaza ceasefire talks are stalled again, with Israel demanding Hamas disarm and Hamas refusing to discuss weapons before earlier terms are carried out. (usnews.com) A Hamas delegation was due in Cairo on Sunday, April 12, to meet Egyptian mediators over what the group calls Israeli violations of the truce that took effect in October 2025. Hamas officials said they would press for the rest of the first-phase terms to be implemented. (arabnews.pk) Those demands include dismantling Israeli military positions in Gaza, fully reopening border crossings, expanding movement for people, and allowing more humanitarian aid into the territory. Reuters, citing Egyptian sources, also reported Hamas wants guarantees of a full Israeli troop withdrawal before any disarmament talks. (usnews.com) Israel’s position is the reverse: no final settlement can leave Hamas armed. The dispute has frozen movement into the next stage of the United States-backed ceasefire plan, which was designed to pair Israeli withdrawal and hostage arrangements with a postwar political framework. (jpost.com, cfr.org) The ceasefire has not meant a full stop to violence. Hamas says Israeli attacks have killed hundreds in Gaza since the truce began, while Israel says its strikes are aimed at preventing imminent militant attacks and has accused Hamas of breaching the agreement as well. (usnews.com, arabnews.pk) The current argument is over sequencing as much as substance. Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said on April 5 that raising disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase would not be accepted. (usnews.com) That first phase began in October 2025 under a plan proposed by the Trump administration and later backed by a United Nations resolution in November. The Council on Foreign Relations says the plan moved toward a second phase only after Israel confirmed in January 2026 that Hamas had returned the remains of the last hostage covered by the first-stage terms. (cfr.org) Six months in, Gaza is in a limbo that residents and aid groups describe as neither war nor peace. Al Jazeera reported on April 10 that attacks continue and aid remains insufficient across the enclave, where about 2.2 million people live. (aljazeera.com) What happens next depends on whether mediators can bridge the order of steps: Israel wants Hamas’s weapons addressed up front, and Hamas wants Israeli withdrawal and first-phase implementation first. For now, Cairo talks are another attempt to keep a six-month-old truce from slipping further. (usnews.com, arabnews.pk)
