Hamas and Gaza ceasefire mediators have reached broad agreement on a proposed “road map” during meetings in Cairo, according to two Hamas sources and a Palestinian faction official. A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya left Cairo on Monday evening for Doha to offer condolences following the death of Qatar’s former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The delegation is expected to travel to Türkiye for talks on mediators’ proposals concerning weapons, other outstanding issues and the future of Palestinian elections. The discussions will also cover Hamas’ internal leadership election, due to conclude within two weeks after voting was completed in Gaza and the West Bank, with ballots from the movement’s overseas branch still pending. According to one Hamas source and the Palestinian faction official, negotiators reached broad consensus on nearly all 15 provisions of a road map presented in April by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, and revised several times since. They said mediators had developed compromise language for Article 5, governing employees of the Hamas-run administration in Gaza, and Article 8, covering the collection and storage of weapons. A second Hamas source said 13 of the 15 provisions had been agreed almost in full, while Articles 5 and 8 remained unresolved. He added that partial understandings had been reached on both, but Hamas would first consult its political and military leadership inside and outside Gaza before deciding on the final wording. All three sources said the meetings brought together mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, along with Mladenov and members of his team, including US advisers, as well as Egypt’s intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad. One Hamas source and the Palestinian faction official described the talks as broadly positive. They said negotiators had agreed on legal formulations concerning government employees that would safeguard their rights while allowing the proposals to be reviewed by legal experts. On weapons, they said the parties had agreed on language affirming the principle of collecting and storing heavy weapons, while providing further clarification on what constitutes heavy weaponry and how the arrangement would be implemented. The draft also reiterates the dismantling of armed gangs and a simultaneous Israeli withdrawal, in line with language agreed in May. The two sources said mediators appeared satisfied with the progress and were now awaiting Israel’s response, as well as Mladenov’s position in his capacity as the Board of Peace’s representative. The sources also emphasized that Hamas had informed mediators, on behalf of the Palestinian factions, that the proposed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza should govern the entire enclave rather than only areas vacated by Israeli forces. They warned against what they described as Israeli attempts to restrict the committee’s authority in Israeli-controlled Rafah or confine it to designated humanitarian or “safe” zones. The second Hamas source explained that negotiators had removed language stating that the committee would be responsible only for employees’ rights accruing after it assumed office. Regarding weapons, he said some provisions had been dropped and replaced with alternative wording, and that a partial understanding had been reached on defining heavy weapons. However, disagreement remains over the definition of military infrastructure, an issue Hamas plans to discuss during meetings in Türkiye and consultations with its leadership in Gaza before submitting revised proposals to the mediators. Separately, Hamas official Basem Naim accused Mladenov on Wednesday of favoring Israel following remarks he made after a donors’ conference in Brussels. Naim disputed Mladenov’s assertion that humanitarian aid flows into Gaza had improved compared with the period before the agreement and accused Israel of continuing military operations despite the ceasefire. Citing figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office, he said more than 1,100 Palestinians had been killed and over 3,000 wounded, most of them women and children. He also rejected claims that Hamas had dismissed the road map, saying the movement continues to discuss the proposal and, to its knowledge, it has not yet been presented to Israel. He added that blaming the Palestinian delegation for delays in reaching an agreement reflected a lack of neutrality in the mediation process.
