Ceasefire talks stall
Diplomats have restarted efforts to revive a Gaza ceasefire, but momentum is thin and violence keeps undercutting negotiations. Mediators are pushing to reconvene talks in Cairo while Hamas has demanded guarantees that Israel will fully withdraw under a disarmament plan tied to President Trump’s so‑called “Board of Peace,” and Hamas’s own disarmament remains a key sticking point. On the ground, medics reported four Palestinians killed on Sunday and figures cited nearly 713 deaths since the fragile truce—showing how routine strikes are eroding any diplomatic gains. (english.aawsat.com) (lufkindailynews.com) (imemc.org)
Diplomats are back in Cairo, trying to repair a Gaza ceasefire that never really stopped cracking. Hamas sent a senior delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya to meet Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators this week, while the latest killings on the ground kept reminding everyone what “fragile truce” means in practice. On Sunday, medics in Gaza said an Israeli strike in Gaza City killed four Palestinians near Darraj, even as negotiators were still talking. (english.palinfo.com) (egypttoday.com) (independent.co.uk) The talks are stuck on a blunt question: who gives up what first. Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss surrendering its weapons unless Israel first commits to a full withdrawal from Gaza. Israel’s position runs the other way. It says it will not leave unless Hamas is disarmed. That turns the negotiation into a locked gate with each side waiting for the other to move first. (usnews.com) (aol.com) This argument sits inside a larger plan pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration. Reuters reported that Hamas tied its demands to a disarmament proposal linked to Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace,” a framework meant to turn the October 2025 ceasefire into something more permanent. The original deal, announced on October 9 and put into effect on October 10, halted two years of full-scale war, included hostage and prisoner exchanges, and required Israeli forces to pull back from some parts of Gaza. It did not settle the hardest issues, including who would govern Gaza and whether Hamas would remain armed. (usnews.com) (reutersconnect.com) (unognewsroom.org) That is why the current round feels less like a peace conference than a fight over the order of operations. Hamas wants guarantees, timelines, and an end to what it calls Israeli violations before disarmament is even on the table. Reuters reported that Hamas also wants answers about Israel’s continued control over large parts of Gaza after the ceasefire. Mediators are trying to reconvene formal talks in Cairo because Egypt remains the place where these sequencing disputes can at least be written down, argued over, and tested against what each side might actually accept. (usnews.com) (english.ahram.org.eg) Meanwhile, the ceasefire is being worn away one strike at a time. Al Jazeera reported in November that at least 713 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect in October. Other reporting in recent months has described the same pattern: a truce on paper, but repeated fire, deaths, and shrinking trust. Each new incident gives both sides another reason to say the other cannot be relied on, which is exactly the condition in which ceasefire talks stall. On Sunday, that condition had a street name: Jaffa Street, near Gaza City’s Darraj neighborhood, where four more people were reported killed. (aljazeera.com) (rte.ie) (independent.co.uk)
