Talks begin in Cairo to advance Gaza truce

CAIRO: Talks on advancing the fragile Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo between mediators and Palestinian factions, a Palestinian source familiar with the meeting told AFP.

The discussions, which started on Sunday and continued on Monday, come as violence continues to plague the territory despite the truce in place since October.

The talks bring together mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, along with representatives of several Palestinian factions, as efforts continue to push forward negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

According to the source, mediators were due to meet a Hamas delegation on Monday, followed by a wider meeting including all participating factions.

Efforts continue to push negotiations on second phase of ceasefire agreement

Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News channel said Sunday’s talks focused on “the proposed roadmap for completing the implementation of the agreement”.

“It was held in a positive atmosphere,” the channel reported, adding that there was agreement on the need to continue implementing US President Donald Trump’s plan.

The talks come amid rising regio­nal tensions, after Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, in a serious test of another fragile truce and a potential threat to hopes for a deal to end the wider Middle East war.

Despite the Gaza truce technically in effect since October, daily violence has rocked the territory, over half of which is under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire’s terms.

Israel has killed at least 936 people since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Both Hamas and Israel accuse each other of violating the truce.

The first phase of the ceasefire involved the release of the last Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

A transition to the second phase, which was supposed to involve Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military, has been stalled for months.

The question of Gaza’s post-war governance also remains one of the main sticking points in negotiations on implementing the provisions of phase two.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2026