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Israel and the United States rejected a joint proposal submitted by Palestinian factions, including Hamas, that linked disarmament to Palestinian statehood and security guarantees, Middle East Eye reported, citing a senior Palestinian source familiar with the talks.
The proposal was submitted after recent meetings in Cairo and Istanbul on the future of Gaza, as disagreements deepened over whether Hamas and other groups should disarm before a technocratic government is established in Gaza.
Palestinian representatives handed the document to Egypt and Türkiye on Friday. The two countries have been mediating the talks.
The senior Palestinian source said the proposal called for negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas and other groups to be tied to Palestinian political rights “within the national framework” and guarantees that people in Gaza would no longer be killed.
On Saturday, “mediators and the Americans both refused the Palestinian factions’ paper and passed threatening messages from the Americans to the Palestinian negotiating team,” the source said.
Palestinian factions say disarmament cannot come before a political resolution that includes Palestinian statehood, while Israel and the U.S. have described it as a requirement for any durable cease-fire.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said a delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, the movement’s leader in Gaza, held meetings in Cairo with mediators and guarantor countries to discuss implementing the U.S.-brokered cease-fire agreement that took effect last October.
The October agreement included six stages, such as resuming humanitarian aid, withdrawing Israeli forces to agreed-upon lines and forming an international task force to implement the deal.
“The occupation must commit to the full and immediate implementation of its obligations as stipulated in the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement in full, according to an agreed-upon timetable,” the Palestinian factions’ document said.
The factions demanded that Israel stop violating the agreement, halt expansion into the eastern half of Gaza under Israeli control, stop strikes in western Gaza, and allow daily humanitarian aid deliveries under the agreed terms.
The document supported an April 19 roadmap presented by mediators as a basis for negotiations.
“This must ensure a ceasefire between the two parties, an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip (and) a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” it said.
The factions also called for reconstruction in Gaza, the entry of international forces, and transferring governance of the Gaza Strip to the National Committee with all its powers.
The document said laying down weapons should be addressed in connection with Palestinian political rights and security guarantees for both parties. It also called for a sovereign Palestinian state and reaffirmed the Palestinian right to self-determination.
After the U.S.-Israeli rejection, Israeli media reported that Israel’s security cabinet was scheduled to meet on Sunday to discuss renewing the war in Gaza.
“Hamas is not standing by the agreement on disarmament. We are holding discussions with mediators,” an Israeli official told the Kan public broadcaster.
In March, Nickolay Mladenov, who leads Trump’s “Board of Peace,” gave Hamas until April 11 to begin gradually handing over its weapons.
A disarmament proposal presented in Cairo required all armed groups in Gaza to surrender their weapons within 90 days, including heavy weapons, missiles, rocket launchers and maps of Hamas’ tunnel network.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also insisted that members of Palestinian factions give up their personal arms.
Palestinian negotiators say statehood and self-determination must come alongside security arrangements, arguing that continued Israeli violations have weakened confidence in the cease-fire process.
The U.N. reported last month that Israel had killed 738 Palestinians in Gaza in the six months after the agreement.
Under the deal, Israel was required to allow up to 600 aid and commercial trucks per day, but it has not met those terms.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 72,000, with thousands missing and presumed buried under rubble.
Nearly 200 days after the ceasefire, Israel’s military presence has expanded beyond previously agreed areas, with reports of an “orange line” extending beyond the “yellow line” set out in the ceasefire terms.
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