US, Egypt & Israel continue to disagree over next step in ceasefire agreement with Hamas

Disagreements have emerged between the United States, Israel, and Egypt regarding the continued implementation of the Trump framework to end the war, amid the visit of the Egyptian intelligence chief to Israel and the arrival of the U.S. Vice President in the country, Kan News reported Tuesday.

While the Americans wish to begin the second phase of the Trump framework, and the Egyptians want to deploy foreign forces into Gaza in the coming days, Israel currently opposes such moves, arguing that Hamas can return the bodies of hostages without external assistance.

Israeli security officials told the Egyptian intelligence chief that Hamas is deliberately stalling and pointed to the fact that Israel has already shared precise locations where, according to intelligence, the bodies of hostages are buried. They emphasized that the bodies must be returned before moving forward with the American plan.

Meanwhile, a list is forming of countries willing to send troops to Gaza as part of an international-Arab force to monitor a ceasefire. Among the countries expected to send forces are Egypt, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. Turkey is still undecided about joining, and Israel is wary of the possibility it might do so.

In the meantime, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who arrived in Israel today, is expected to meet with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Thursday. In this matter too, the Americans may have the final say.

Behind the Egyptian Intelligence Chief’s visit to Israel

An Egyptian source involved in the negotiations told the Qatari-owned newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the visit of General Hassan Rashad, Egypt’s intelligence chief, to Israel was coordinated with the Americans and coincides with the visits of Vance, White House Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, all aimed at increasing pressure on Israel to implement the agreement.

Israel was expected to send a delegation to Cairo to begin negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, at the same time that the Hamas negotiation team is there, but has not yet done so.

The source said Rashad is also expected to discuss Egypt’s demand to reopen the Rafah border crossing in accordance with the agreement, after Israel announced it would remain closed until further notice.

According to the source, mediators are frustrated with Israel linking the opening of Rafah to the issue of returning the bodies. He added that Egypt and Qatar have given Israel explicit assurances that all the bodies will be returned if conditions on the ground allow, and once the necessary engineering equipment is handed over to Hamas.