Egyptian sources say joint bid with Qatar centers on 60-day ceasefire in Gaza
Egypt on Tuesday denied Israeli media reports that it had proposed taking custody of Hamas’ weapons as part of a plan for postwar Gaza.
Israeli outlets, including the state broadcaster KAN, alleged that Egypt suggested Hamas’s weapons be handed over temporarily under its supervision as part of a “day after” plan.
According to those reports, the proposal envisioned Gaza being administered for several years by a technocratic government under Palestinian Authority oversight, with Hamas sidelined from governance.
Israel demands the disarmament of Hamas for any agreement to halt its brutal war on the Gaza Strip.
But Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News Channel, citing Egyptian sources, dismissed the Israeli reports, stressing that a recent proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar and accepted by Hamas involves a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.
Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would begin on the first day the deal takes effect, the sources said.
Earlier Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said “significant progress” had been made in ceasefire talks and that “the ball is now in Israel’s court.”
Hamas said on Monday that it accepted a proposal by Egyptian and Qatari mediators for a Gaza ceasefire, without providing details about the proposal’s content.
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, citing unnamed sources, said the new proposal closely resembles US envoy Steve Witkoff’s original plan, which called for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and negotiations to end the war.
According to Egyptian media, the proposal calls for Israeli forces to reposition near the border to facilitate humanitarian aid entering Gaza and a temporary halt to military operations for two months to facilitate a prisoner-hostage exchange.
Israel estimates that 50 of its citizens remain in Gaza, including 20 alive. More than 10,800 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israel, where rights groups say they face torture, hunger and medical neglect that has led to numerous deaths.
Israel has killed nearly 62,100 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
