Egypt rushes to save Gaza ceasefire as Israeli attack and threat of displacement threatens to collapse the deal.
Published May 30, 2026
Egypt has launched an emergency diplomatic intervention to save the fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement, which is on the verge of collapse.
The government has warned Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza, which would undermine efforts to end the war amid a spate of deadly airstrikes.
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Egypt has also invited a senior Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Haya to emergency talks to save the peace process, according to Egyptian intelligence officials who spoke to Al Jazeera.
The official said contacts between the parties were intense and Cairo was rushing to arrange negotiations by the end of this week to prevent an all-out war in Gaza.
The diplomatic move comes in the wake of new Israeli military attacks on Gaza and statements by senior Israeli officials threatening a breakdown in months of diplomacy.
At least 141 Palestinians have been killed in the past two weeks in an escalation of Israeli attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a directive ordering the military to expand its control from 53% to 70%.
Mediators say this fundamentally violates the U.S.-brokered Comprehensive Peace Plan, signed in October 2025 under the Trump administration.
Further exacerbating the crisis, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has publicly reinstated a blueprint for the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians from the enclaves, sparking regional outrage.
In an announcement confirming the assassination of Hamas’ newly appointed military commander, Mohammed Odeh, Katz insisted that the deportation plan would be implemented “at the right time and in the right way.”
Cairo has sent a warning to the Israeli government, rejecting any measures aimed at encouraging Gaza residents to voluntarily emigrate or directing Palestinians to the Rafah border with Egypt.
Egypt is coordinating with Qatari and Turkiye mediators and U.S. officials to get the negotiation process back on track, including amending additional provisions in the original Gaza peace plan aimed at reducing violence..
The official said Egypt and its fellow mediators recognize that Netanyahu’s recent comments about Israel’s expanding occupation of Gaza and the attacks that killed Hamas soldiers Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Mohamed Odeh were driven by electoral calculations and are exacerbated by the difficulties Netanyahu faces in Lebanon.
Egypt has contacted U.S. officials and asked President Donald Trump to urgently detain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in light of Israel’s recent escalation in Gaza, the sources said.
A senior Hamas official abroad told Al Jazeera that Hamas had received communications from the Egyptian side aimed at containing escalation and preventing a breakdown in negotiations, suggesting that a meeting in Cairo was expected to be held within days.
Hamas said the ceasefire was on the brink of collapse due to repeated Israeli violations, and called on the United States and its guarantors to take “serious and urgent” steps to force Israel to honor its commitments.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October to end two years of fighting that has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and left the majority of Gazans homeless.
At least 929 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October, even though the ceasefire is still in effect.
