TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 17, 2026
Palestinian sources say Hamas rejected reopening the Gaza agreement during talks with Jared Kushner, with Washington now awaiting Israel’s response.
New details have emerged about a high-level meeting between Hamas and US envoy Jared Kushner in Egypt, with Palestinian sources saying the talks focused on implementing the second phase of the Gaza agreement rather than renegotiating its terms.
Sources who spoke to Quds News Network on condition of anonymity described the meeting in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein as “positive.”
The Hamas delegation was headed by the movement’s political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya and met Kushner alongside Nikolay Mladenov, executive coordinator of the Board of Peace.
According to the sources, discussions centered on the roadmap governing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan and the mechanisms required to move toward its implementation.
No new provisions or amendments that would alter the substance of the existing agreement were presented during the meeting, the sources said.
That distinction is significant following Hamas’ formal announcement that it had accepted the roadmap presented by Mladenov and the mediators.
Agreement ‘will not be reopened’
According to Quds News Network, the Hamas delegation told Kushner and Mladenov that the existing agreement was not open to renegotiation.
The movement reportedly stressed that it and other Palestinian factions had already submitted their position on the provisions contained in the agreement.
The issue now, Hamas argued, was obtaining Israel’s response to what had already been agreed.
Sources summarized the Hamas position with a particularly categorical formulation: the agreement in its current form “will not be reopened.”
The position suggests that Hamas does not view the transition to the second phase as an opportunity to negotiate a substantially different framework, but as a question of implementing commitments already negotiated through the mediators.
Kushner: Israel must respond
Perhaps the most consequential detail reported from the closed-door discussions concerned Kushner’s response.
According to the Palestinian sources cited by Quds News Network, Kushner also said that what was required at this stage was a response from Israel.
The sources interpreted his comments as indicating that the next move regarding the transition to the second phase and implementation of the related obligations now rests with the Israeli side.
Mladenov reportedly reinforced the point that the existing framework had not changed.
According to the sources, he told participants that there had been no changes to the agreement’s 15 provisions and that they remained as previously presented, without new amendments or proposals.
The meeting therefore appears to have centered not on drafting another agreement, but on determining whether and how the existing roadmap can move into implementation.
Hamas confirms acceptance of roadmap
The details reported by Quds News Network provide additional context to a formal Hamas statement issued on Sunday.
Hamas confirmed that its delegation, headed by Al-Hayya, had met representatives of the mediators and guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire under Egyptian sponsorship.
The movement said it had agreed to the roadmap for the second phase of Trump’s plan presented by Mladenov and the mediators.
Hamas said its acceptance was based on what it described as the interests of the Palestinian people and the need to achieve a permanent ceasefire.
It identified several objectives it says must emerge from the process:
The complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, permanent and urgent humanitarian relief, the beginning of work by the administrative committee, reconstruction, and implementation of the remaining agreed provisions.
Dispute over first phase
At the same time, Hamas stressed that the dispute over implementation of the first phase remains unresolved.
The movement said Hamas and the other Palestinian factions had fully implemented their obligations under the first phase reached in Sharm al-Sheikh, including the exchange of captives and bodies and the cessation of military operations.
It accused Israel, however, of failing to fulfil its own obligations.
According to Hamas, Israeli occupation forces have continued military escalation on the ground and deepened Gaza’s humanitarian crisis despite the ceasefire.
The movement also said Israel had explicitly rejected the roadmap for the second phase.
Hamas therefore called on the mediators and the Board of Peace to compel Israel to implement its outstanding first-phase commitments, end killings and military incursions, accept the second-phase roadmap and agree to a timetable for its implementation.
The next discussions will now move to the broader Palestinian leadership.
According to the sources cited by Quds News Network, Palestinian factions are scheduled to meet on Monday to receive a briefing on what took place during the Kushner meeting and discuss the next steps.
The factions are expected to review both the second-phase roadmap and other related files.
(QNN, TPC)
