Egyptian, Israeli and Hamas Delegations Hold Cairo Talks to Save Gaza Ceasefire Phase Two

Senior Israeli and Egyptian officials held talks in Cairo over July 9–11, 2026 on advancing the stalled second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, coinciding with a separate Hamas delegation visit led by Khalil al-Hayya to meet Egyptian mediators. Hamas reaffirmed its readiness to hand over administrative control of Gaza to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, discussed a proposed Rafah buffer-zone arrangement, and addressed the disarmament formula demanded by Israel and mediators as a precondition for full Israeli military withdrawal. According to an Egyptian source cited by Asharq Al-Awsat, the Israeli delegation warned that if the revised draft proposals fail, Israel would move ahead with renewed military operations inside Gaza. The talks — held alongside continued Egypt-Qatar-Turkey mediation efforts — underscored persistent disagreement over Hamas disarmament, the timeline for Israeli withdrawal, and post-war governance and security arrangements in Gaza.