Mediators of Gaza’s fragile ceasefire, along with Palestinian factions, are counting on US President Donald Trump’s administration to press Israel to accept the agreed wording on a 15-point roadmap received by Hamas last April. Palestinian factions reached “close” positions with mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye on amendments to the roadmap, focusing mainly on the disputed eighth clause on weapons in Gaza. The amended wording of the eighth clause, seen by Asharq Al-Awsat, calls for the inventorying and storage of weapons, including infrastructure, to be carried out gradually and in stages, according to a timetable. The process would take place in parallel with Israel’s withdrawal from the areas it controls in the Gaza Strip and the completion of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with all its requirements. Those include “the full implementation of the humanitarian protocol, the halt to targeted attacks, Israel’s commitment to withdrawal from the enclave, the entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and its assumption of duties, the deployment of the International Stabilization Force, and the dismantling of armed militias.” The amendment added that implementation shall be carried out through the national committee, with the support of international forces and in cooperation with Palestinian organizations. All of this comes within the framework of Trump’s plan and in accordance with relevant international resolutions and laws. Indirect talks between Israel on one side and Hamas and other factions on the other have stalled over moving to new phases of the Gaza ceasefire announced last October, which Israel has repeatedly breached, killing more than 970 Palestinians since then. The Palestinian side has insisted on implementing the requirements of the first phase, including the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the territory it occupies and the entry of aid and goods into Gaza. Tel Aviv, meanwhile, is pressing for the factions to disarm, describing this as the most prominent provision of the second phase. Hamas delegation stays in Cairo According to two Hamas sources and other sources from Palestinian factions involved in the Cairo meetings, the Hamas delegation was asked to stay in Cairo and await the response to the agreed wording. Other faction delegations that had come from abroad left, while some members who had recently been based in Egypt remained. A Hamas source said the movement’s delegation in Egypt would likely be asked to hold further consultations with the mediators on some issues that Israel, and even the Trump administration, may object to in the proposed amendments, mainly over the text rather than the substance. According to the four sources, the mediators told the factions that took part in the meetings that they would seek agreement with the US administration and Israel on the wording reached and would brief them on developments from consultations with all parties. Another Hamas source said Türkiye was playing “an important and major role” in persuading the US administration, while Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was in direct contact with US envoy Steve Witkoff to push for the success of the important step that had been reached. Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative for Gaza at the Board of Peace, is expected to arrive in Cairo on Wednesday or Thursday. But a source close to the Board of Peace team told Asharq Al-Awsat that Mladenov would likely begin his visit “in Israel first, to reach understandings with officials there before moving on to Cairo.” Palestinian sources were pessimistic about Israel’s response and expected it to be “negative” toward the wording of the roadmap amendments.
