Hamas political chief Khalil al-Hayya
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Hamas political chief Khalil al-Hayya was set to travel to Cairo on Saturday evening (August 15, 2026) for talks with Egyptian officials, a Hamas source told AFP, ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner to the region.
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Mr. Hayya, who will be visiting Egypt for the first time since assuming leadership of Hamas in late July, is due to meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Sunday morning (August 16), the source said.
Mr. Kushner will visit Israel and Egypt next week in hopes of bridging gaps on a Gaza plan rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will be accompanied by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Mr. Trump’s so-called Board of Peace tasked with implementing the deal.
The trip comes after Mr. Netanyahu publicly dismissed a 15-point plan announced by Mladenov in which Hamas agreed to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee in Gaza.
A Board of Peace official said Mr. Kushner and Mr. Mladenov hoped for “constructive conversations” on advancing Mr. Trump’s overall peace plan, which began with the October 2025 declaration of a ceasefire that has reduced but not ended Israeli strikes in Gaza.
The latest part of the Gaza plan, to which Hamas agreed in late July, would start a phased Israeli withdrawal from much of the Strip, according to an initial version released by the Board of Peace.
Mr. Mladenov later backtracked and said that Israel would not need to pull out troops until a complete Hamas disarmament.
Mr. Netanyahu had vowed no pullout and has voiced scepticism that Hamas would disarm, saying it should destroy weapons in a verifiable way.
Hamas insisted it was abiding by the deal.
“We continue to await pressure from the mediators and the U.S. side on Netanyahu and his government to compel him to abide by the roadmap,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday (August 14).
Published – August 16, 2026 08:49 am IST
