As Gaza ceasefire appears bogged down, mediators reported meeting in Cairo to discuss move to second phase

Reports in Arab media say that mediators and guarantors of the Gaza peace plan met Tuesday in Cairo to discuss how to move into the plan’s second phase.

According to Al-Qahera News (Cairo News Channel), the group “met to discuss ways to intensify joint efforts, in cooperation with the United States, to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the agreement.”

The situation in Gaza has been in a relative stalemate, with Hamas failing to hand over the last of the hostage remains, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement, while near daily incursions by Palestinian terrorists into the Israeli side of the Yellow Line has led to IDF airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders inside the Gaza Strip. Israeli leaders are increasingly concerned that the ceasefire could collapse.  

The agency stated that attendees included the head of Egyptian General Intelligence, Major General Hassan Rashad, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the head of Turkish intelligence, Ibrahim Kalin. Turkish news site The Daily Sabah claimed that the meeting also included Hamas Leadership Council head Muhammad Darwish and council members Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Nizar Awadallah, Zahir Jabarin, and political bureau member Ghazi Hamad. 

If true, this would suggest a troubling level of coordination with the Hamas terror group, while the organization continues to refuse the peace plan’s condition of disarmament. 

However, Gulf news site Al-Ain News, reports that the Hamas leaders met separately with the Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, and not as part of the discussions of the mediators. 

Al-Ain cited Ambassador Tamim Khallaf, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said that immediate implementation of the second phase of deal is necessary in order to establish security arrangements, start reconstruction efforts, and pave the way for the political horizon of the Gaza Strip. 

Al-Qahera said the mediators also discussed the issue of the Hamas fighters trapped in Rafah. The IDF said that it killed or captured 17 Hamas fighters who attempted to flee one of the underground tunnels towards territory controlled by the terror organization. On Tuesday, the military said it killed another five terrorists in the same area, who emerged from a tunnel near the forces. While six more were engaged by IDF fire on Wednesday morning. After that engagement, troops sent to investigate the incident encountered a group of six fighters, one of whom was killed in the previous engagement. The soldiers killed another three before the remaining two surrendered to the Israeli forces. 

As Israeli officials are increasingly guarded about the potential of the Gaza peace plan, given the occurrence of regular ceasefire violations by Palestinian militants in Gaza, a Palestinian source told Arab media on Tuesday that the U.S and its partners understand that the Palestinian Authority should ultimately control Gaza. 

According to the source, allowing the Palestinian Authority to participate in the second phase of peace plan, will speed up the transition process, and allow stabilization to occur faster. 

The remarks came following a meeting between Palestinian Authority Deputy Chairman Hussein al-Sheikh and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier this week. 

The meeting was also attended by Majd Faraj, head of the PA's General Intelligence, and Majdi Khalidi, Mahmoud Abbas' advisor for diplomatic affairs. 

The Palestinian source told Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Sheikh stressed to Blair the need for the Palestinian Authority to take control of the Gaza Strip, as part of the "Palestinian state.” 

The two also discussed the role of the PA in Gaza through a technocratic committee and Palestinian security forces, which the PA believes should be deployed quickly in the Gaza Strip. 

The Israeli government remains firmly opposed to any participation by the PA until significant reforms inside the PA and in PA-controlled institutions are achieved. Officials cite the failure of the PA to reform the curriculum used in PA and UN schools, despite repeated promises to do so, as proof that the PA is not a valid partner in peace. 

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the government’s resistance to the idea. 

“Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory west of the Jordan [River], this opposition is existing, valid, and has not changed one bit,” Netanyahu declared during a cabinet meeting. 

While Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned that the obsession to establish a “Palestinian state” would result in a Hamas-ruled terrorist entity that threatens Israel’s national security. 

"A Palestinian state would be a Hamas terror state,” Sa’ar told a delegation of young German leaders in Jerusalem earlier this month.