Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya heads to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials

Hamas political leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya is travelling to Cairo for discussions with Egyptian officials, according to Hamas sources, ahead of a planned regional visit by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner.

Al-Hayya is expected to meet Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Sunday morning, according to Hamas sources cited by AFP and Anadolu.

It will be his first visit to Egypt since he took over as Hamas leader in late July.

Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is due to visit Israel and Egypt next week as part of efforts to bridge differences over a Gaza plan rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will reportedly be accompanied by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza.

The visit comes after Netanyahu rejected a 15-point proposal under which Hamas had agreed to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee.

“We continue to await pressure from the mediators and the US side on Netanyahu and his government to compel him to abide by the roadmap,” Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim told AFP on Friday.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have continued across Gaza. According to the territory’s Ministry of Health, Israeli fire killed two Palestinians and wounded 14 others on Saturday following air strikes, artillery shelling and demolitions in several parts of the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, according to Palestinian official sources, while the overall death toll since October 2023 has surpassed 73,300.

Netanyahu formally rejected the Board of Peace proposal last Sunday, saying Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas was “genuinely disarmed”.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also said this week that Israeli troops would remain in occupied “security zones” in Lebanon and Syria, indicating that Israel intends to maintain a military presence across all three fronts.