US holds direct Hamas talks in Cairo as Gaza truce teeters on brink

In an unprecedented diplomatic maneuver, envoys from US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” met directly with Hamas representatives in Cairo over the weekend, marking the first publicly reported engagement between Washington and the militant group since the onset of the Iran war .

The weekend meetings, confirmed by three sources to Reuters, aimed to salvage the fragile Gaza ceasefire that has come under severe strain since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on February 28. The second phase of the truce agreement, originally scheduled to begin in mid-January, has stalled amid the expanding regional conflict .

Following the talks, Israel announced it would partially reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday. The crossing, Gaza’s sole pedestrian lifeline outside direct Israeli control, had been shut since the Iran offensive began. One source familiar with the discussions told Reuters he believed the Israeli announcement was a direct result of the meeting between Hamas and the Board .

Hamas officials reportedly warned the US envoys that the movement could back away from its previous commitments under the Gaza ceasefire if Israel maintains new restrictions imposed during the war. A Hamas delegation led by Nizar Awadallah, including senior figure Ghazi Hamad, held a series of meetings with Egyptian intelligence members and UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov that tackled political and field developments in Gaza .

Despite the diplomatic push, violence persists. Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least 13 Palestinians including two boys, a pregnant woman, and nine police officers, serving as a stark reminder of Israel’s military grip on the territory .

Abdullah Aqrabawi, a Palestinian political analyst, told Al Jazeera that Washington’s willingness to meet Hamas reflects a stark reality: “There is a comprehensive, realistic acknowledgment that the main military, political, and social actor in the Gaza Strip is Hamas.” However, he cautioned against viewing the meetings as a fundamental shift in US policy, noting that in the Trump administration era, “diplomatic meetings do not equate with political recognition” .