Egypt Urges Israelto Preserve Gaza Ceasefire Amid Rising Tensions

Egypt has initiated urgent diplomatic efforts to rescue a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement that teeters on the brink of collapse.

The government cautioned Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza, warning that such moves would jeopardize ongoing efforts to halt the conflict amid a surge of deadly Israeli airstrikes.

An Egyptian intelligence official, speaking to Al Jazeera, revealed that Egypt has also invited a senior Hamas delegation, headed by chief negotiator Khalil al‑Hayya, for urgent talks aimed at salvaging the peace process.

The source characterized the contacts as intense, noting that Cairo is racing to arrange negotiations before the week’s end to avert an all‑out war in Gaza.

These diplomatic moves follow renewed Israeli military attacks on Gaza and statements from top Israeli officials that threaten to unravel months of diplomatic progress.

At least 141 Palestinians have been killed in the past two weeks as Israeli attacks have intensified.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a directive ordering the military to expand the controlled area from 53% to 70%.

This fundamentally violates the US‑brokered comprehensive peace plan signed in October 2025 under the Trump administration, mediators say.

Compounding the crisis, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz revived publicly a blueprint for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of the enclave, triggering regional outrage.

During an announcement confirming the assassination of Hamas’s newly appointed military chief, Mohammed Odeh, Katz asserted that the forced displacement scheme would be implemented “at the right time and in the right manner.”

Cairo issued a warning to the Israeli government, rejecting any measures that would push Gaza’s residents toward voluntary emigration or direct Palestinians toward the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Egypt has been coordinating with mediators in Qatar and Turkey, as well as US officials, to return the process to a negotiating track, including revisions to the addendum of the original Gaza peace plan aimed at reducing violence.

The source said Egypt and its fellow mediators recognize that Netanyahu’s recent statements about expanding Israel’s occupation of Gaza, along with attacks that killed Hamas figures Izz al‑Din al‑Haddad and Mohammed Odeh, appear driven by electoral calculations and compounded by challenges Netanyahu faces in Lebanon.

Egypt has contacted United States officials, urging President Donald Trump to urgently restrain Netanyahu in light of recent Israeli escalations in Gaza, the source said.

A senior Hamas official abroad told Al Jazeera that Hamas had received Egyptian communications aimed at containing the escalation and preventing talks from collapsing, suggesting a meeting in Cairo was expected within days.

Hamas warned that the ceasefire teeters on the brink of collapse due to repeated Israeli violations and called on the US and guarantor nations to take “serious and urgent” steps to compel Israel to honor its commitments.

Israel and Hamas agreed in October to a ceasefire that ended two years of fighting, which had killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and rendered the vast majority of Gaza’s population homeless.

Despite the ceasefire remaining in place, at least 929 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October.

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