Informed sources from the factions participating in the round of talks that began at the start of this week in Cairo, to discuss developing the truce agreement in Gaza, say that significant progress was made on the third day of the talks, which discussed amending clauses eight and nine in the paper previously presented by the High Representative of the “Peace Council,” Nikolay Mladenov, which pertain to “the weapons of the resistance,” after the resistance factions presented a new vision. However, this progress will remain contingent on the approval of Israel and the “Peace Council.”
Taher al-Nunu, media advisor to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, revealed that “tangible progress” had been made in the Cairo talks over the past few days. He told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the Hamas delegation and the factions had “prepared a joint formulation of a unified and responsible national response regarding the terms of the roadmap presented to the movement and the factions by the mediators to complete the implementation of President Donald Trump’s plan regarding Gaza.”
He also noted that the Hamas leadership delegation held a series of intensive meetings in Cairo, including meetings with the Qatari Prime Minister and the Egyptian and Turkish intelligence ministers, in addition to holding other meetings with mediators and the forces and factions participating in the negotiations, indicating that the Hamas delegation and representatives of the participating factions “demonstrated positivity and a high sense of responsibility in the dialogue with the aim of reaching an agreement acceptable to all, protecting our Palestinian people, and providing them with a decent life and a better future.”
He noted that the negotiation and deliberation sessions are still ongoing, and include all the remaining issues in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, and the establishment of the political rights and constants of the Palestinian people, including accelerating the entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and its assumption of all its duties in the sector. He explained that the talks discussed intensifying the entry of aid and starting relief and reconstruction, achieving the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and ensuring security for the Palestinian people.
A Palestinian source involved in the negotiations told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that during the talks held in Cairo, it was agreed that the mediators would present a "conditional formula" regarding the issue of "weapons control," and that a statement would be issued at the end of the negotiations outlining the latest developments.
He explained that the resistance factions fundamentally rejected the proposal to “disarm the resistance” in the manner presented by Israel and representatives of the US administration in the “Peace Council,” which is based on “disarmament,” with all the implications that the phrase carries, and entrusting the process to the “International Stabilization Force,” in a way that “insults the struggle of the Palestinian people.”
Resistance Weapon Proposal
He explained to Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the discussions that took place on the third day, Monday, of the Cairo talks, regarding the eighth and ninth items that were included in Mladenov’s paper, were not easy, given what this paper presented, which contained 20 items, and linked all relief and reconstruction operations to “disarming the resistance.” At the end of those discussions, the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” informed the mediators of the new viewpoint and the position adopted by the factions regarding amending these two items, in line with the internal Palestinian situation and the reality in the Gaza Strip.
On the third day, the three mediators, the Egyptians, the Qataris, and the Turks, held bilateral meetings with the Hamas delegation, and other expanded meetings that brought the mediators together with the delegations of the other factions. The factions' response, as conveyed by Hamas, according to the source who spoke to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, included replacing the word “disarmament” with “confinement of weapons,” so that they would only be in the hands of a “Palestinian Authority” that would assume security duties in Gaza, and that the process would be linked to the full implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, and real guarantees this time, including Israeli withdrawals from the Gaza Strip.
He stated that great efforts were made on the third day of negotiations by the mediation trio, when these two items were discussed, after the resistance factions had previously informed them of their refusal to discuss the Israeli viewpoint that calls for “disarmament.” He emphasized that what was presented in this regard represents the last that the resistance factions can offer regarding this file, which threatened the fragile truce agreement in the future, with the aim of preserving and developing the agreement.
He pointed out that the mediators, foremost among them Egypt, are currently working on presenting “approaches” at the end of the negotiations, which include all the results that were reached with the factions, foremost among them the “weapons” file, and the ideas and proposals that were reached, to be presented to the American administration and the “Peace Council,” as well as the Israeli side. He added: “Now the Peace Council and the American president are required to exert pressure on Israel to fully implement the terms of the agreement.”
He stressed that all factions in the meetings that took place requested that the humanitarian protocol included in the first phase agreement be implemented as quickly as possible, and the need to bring in sufficient aid to the residents of Gaza, in light of the difficult conditions they are living in as a result of Israeli policies. They also demanded that there be a “strong intervention” to stop the military attacks on Gaza, as they threaten the future of the ceasefire agreement. In addition, everyone stressed the need for the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to go to the Strip urgently, in order to carry out its full duties, take over the administration of the Strip civilly and security-wise, and start implementing relief and reconstruction projects.
The official source who spoke to Al-Quds Al-Arabi said that the mediation trio had made great efforts since the first day of this round of talks, and that the movement’s delegation was very careful during the submission of the necessary “formulas” in order to amend Mladenov’s paper. He stressed that the eighth and ninth clauses were the most important clauses that were focused on during the discussions, especially since these clauses talk about the “resistance’s weapons.”
Exclusion, not removal
He pointed out that the resistance factions, foremost among them “Hamas”, have hardened their position rejecting the wording based on the word “disarmament”, and have replaced it with “confinement”, and that they have presented a viewpoint based on the official weapons being in the hands of the authority that governs the Gaza Strip, and is officially recognized, provided that “individual weapons” are not touched, and that at the same time a parallel line is taken between the arrangements for “confining weapons” and the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the implementation of the withdrawal stages in full.
In addition to this point, the resistance factions demanded that the “weapons control” process include the Israeli-backed militia that is deployed in several areas near the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, by completely ending this role played by the militia, as it threatens “civil peace”.
The resistance factions, foremost among them Hamas, have hardened their stance against the wording being based on the word “disarmament,” replacing it with “confiscation,” and have presented a viewpoint based on the official weapons being in the hands of the authority that governs the Gaza Strip, provided that “individual weapons” are not touched.
Another source in one of the resistance factions told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the resistance factions presented rules and foundations for the weapons file, on the condition that it be within a Palestinian national framework, which also includes ensuring “civil peace”, and not leaving room for there to be a “security vacuum”, and also stressed the need to end the phenomenon of armed militias supported by Israel.
He stressed that the coming days will determine where things are headed, especially after the mediators present a “new approach formula” that combines what was discussed in the Cairo talks with the Palestinian factions, what Mladenov previously proposed, and the contacts that were made with the Israeli side, especially since what the factions presented will be presented to the Israeli side, which, if it does not accept what was presented, will prove once again its lack of seriousness in reaching solutions that end the war on Gaza, and its pursuit of continuing the war.
He pointed out that what the factions presented in the dialogues that began at the start of this week gives the mediators ample room to maneuver in several files related to de-escalation, during which previous difficulties are being overcome.
Pressure on Israel
He stressed that the next stage requires “great pressure” from the mediators, the US administration and the international community on Israel to push it towards halting its plans against Gaza and accepting the proposal presented, noting that the factions repeatedly emphasized during the discussions and talks held in Cairo the necessity for Israel to immediately stop its military attacks against Gaza, including assassinations, and to open the crossings and allow the entry of all aid.
On Tuesday, these meetings regarding the development of the truce continued, and the mediators held new meetings with the Hamas delegation and the other participating Palestinian delegations, which aim to reach at the end of them a comprehensive formula that includes the implementation of what remains of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which Israel has obstructed, and the second phase of the agreement that speaks of the “resistance’s weapons,” and the start of relief and reconstruction operations.
It is said that there is an open line of communication between the mediators and representatives of the US administration and the “Peace Council” since the first day of these talks, with direct communication taking place with US envoy Steve Wittkopf and “Peace Council” representative Mladenov, without either of them attending until the third day of the negotiations.
It is expected that the Palestinian factions, or a delegation from the Hamas movement representing them, will return after the current round ends with a short break, after the formula of “approaches” that were obtained is presented to the Israeli side, to inform it of the developments in the position regarding the truce.
