Representatives from Hamas were anticipated to engage in discussions with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Sunday, aiming to address the execution of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace initiative for the Gaza Strip, as disclosed by two Hamas officials to AFP.
The agenda for these talks will include addressing “halting Israeli violations,” according to one Hamas official, who requested anonymity due to not being authorized to speak publicly.
This official stated that the group intends to emphasize the necessity for the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw completely from Gaza, reopen the borders comprehensively, increase the number of crossings, and permit a larger influx of humanitarian aid into the area.
The Hamas delegation is also expected to confer with representatives from other Palestinian groups to deliberate on these concerns, as per the second Hamas official’s statement to AFP.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military reported on Friday that it had neutralized two Palestinian militants who were allegedly preparing “imminent” attacks against soldiers stationed in the Strip.
In the southern region of Gaza, the IDF targeted Mahmoud Barim, a militant affiliated with the Al-Mujahideen Brigades, the military faction of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, which originated as a breakaway from Fatah. According to the military, Barim was involved in monitoring IDF activities and was found with a substantial arsenal of weapons.
In the northern Strip, the IDF struck Ahmed Mohammed Saleh, a Hamas Nukhba Force terrorist “who had carried out and advanced numerous terror attacks,” it said. Several additional Hamas terrorists were also hit in the strike.
Prior to the airstrikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to noncombatants, “including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” per the statement.
On Saturday, an Israeli soldier was severely injured as a result of an operational accident in central Gaza, the army stated separately. The soldier was evacuated to a hospital and his family was notified.
The current truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023. The terms of the ceasefire leave the IDF in control of approximately half of Gaza.
Top Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk, have rejected key parts of Trump’s plan in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October.
“The resistance and its weapons are the ummah’s [Islamic nation’s] honor and pride,” Mashaal told an anti-Israel summit in Istanbul on Dec. 6.
“A thousand statements are not worth a single projectile of iron,” he said.
