Hamas Misses Second Board of Peace Disarmament Deadline; Cairo Talks Continue With No Breakthrough

April 19, 2026 was the second Board of Peace deadline by which Hamas was expected to signal acceptance of the phased disarmament framework — the Saturday follow-on to the April 14 deadline that Hamas had already formally rejected. Hamas again did not accept the plan. However, the Times of Israel reported that talks were ongoing in Cairo, with Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and the US still engaged. Hamas's delegation publicly called for international pressure on Israel to honor remaining Phase One obligations — including full IDF withdrawal from populated areas and unrestricted humanitarian access — before any disarmament discussion. The six-month ceasefire anniversary was approaching with no meaningful reconstruction having started: less than $1 billion of $17 billion in pledged reconstruction funds had been deposited, with donors holding back pending the disarmament and governance resolution. US officials and the IDF expressed optimism that Hamas would eventually make a move — signaling that the talks, while stalled, had not fully collapsed.