Gaza talks hosted by Egypt stall as Hamas disarmament ‘remains only point of contention’

Discussions between Palestinian factions and mediators in Cairo aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war in Gaza have stalled over the pivotal question of disarming the territory and Hamas, Palestinian sources told AFP on Tuesday.

“Talks are continuing… in a context of clearly differing visions… with the issue of weapons remaining the only point of contention,” a Palestinian source familiar with the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not supposed to speak publicly about the discussions.

A second Palestinian official spoke of “progress” in the talks but added that “the weapons question was one of the most contentious issues being discussed.”

The ball was “now in Israel and mediators’ court,” he said, referring to Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

Palestinian factions insist on the principle that any disarmament must be linked to a “complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” he said.

That prospect remains distant.

The peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, which has received UN endorsement, envisages a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, who currently control roughly 60 percent of the territory, only in the long term.

Israeli strikes have continued at a near-daily pace despite the ceasefire announced in October 2025 after two years of war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 2023 invasion of Israel, under the framework presented by Trump.

Each side blames the other for the current impasse.

Hamas accuses Israel of failing to honor its commitments, particularly on humanitarian matters, while Israel is demanding the complete disarmament of the Islamist terror movement before any further progress under the plan.

Palestinian sources told AFP earlier on Tuesday that representatives of Palestinian factions including Hamas agreed in principle for Gaza’s armed groups to hand over parts of their arsenal to a yet-to-be-created, ad hoc Palestinian entity.

This too is unlikely to be accepted by Israel, which demands a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, starting with Hamas.

The talks were attended by Gaza’s main armed factions, including Hamas and its ally the Islamic Jihad, but not the Fatah party that dominates the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has repeatedly stated that it is not opposed to handing over some of its arsenal, but only as part of a Palestinian political process.

Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal also suggested a weapons “freeze” or “storage,” which Israel rejected.

Hamas officer and Gaza hospital chief said moved to solitary

Also Tuesday, Physicians for Human Rights Israel said that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, an officer in Hamas’s Military Medical Services who is the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and has been detained by Israel for some 18 months without charge, was transferred in recent days to solitary confinement at Ganot Prison.

In response, the Israel Prison Service said it “determines the place of detention of prisoners and detainees in accordance with professional, operational and security considerations, and based on assessments by the authorized professional bodies.”

“We will not comment on considerations relating to the placement or detention conditions of any specific detainee,” the statement added.

Abu Safiya was arrested by Israel during the war in Gaza in December 2024. He is one of the highest-profile Gazan detainees, and human rights groups, including Physicians for Human Rights Israel, have called for his release.

Following his arrest, decade-old photos surfaced showing him wearing Hamas uniforms alongside senior members of the terror group. Abu Safiya holds the rank of colonel in the terror group’s Military Medical Services, according to the service and Palestinian media reports.

The Military Medical Services is separate from Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, though some of its members directly participated in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in southern Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.

Israel has said Abu Safiya was a high-ranking Hamas operative, but has not accused him of participating in any specific acts of terror. Another director of Kamal Adwan, who was captured by the IDF earlier in the war, revealed in an interrogation that the MMS-affiliated hospital was turned into a military facility under Hamas’s control and that at one point it housed a kidnapped soldier. That director, Ahmed Kahlot, said some 16 members of the hospital’s staff – including doctors, nurses and paramedics – are also Hamas operatives who serve in the al-Qassam Brigades.

According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Dr. Abu Safiya is one of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza currently detained in Israel without having been indicted. In April, the organization filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding their release, and proceedings in the case are ongoing.

The information regarding Abu Safiya’s placement in solitary confinement reached the organization during a June 4 visit by lawyers from Physicians for Human Rights Israel to Ketziot Prison.

According to the organization, a group of Palestinian detainees – doctors from Gaza who were arrested during the war – told the lawyers that several days before the visit, security personnel entered the prison wing and removed Abu Safiya from the facility. The organization later said it learned that he had been transferred to solitary confinement in Ganot Prison.

Before his transfer to solitary confinement, his lawyers claimed he had been subjected to “severe physical abuse,” including beatings and electric shocks.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.