Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya to visit Cairo for Gaza talks

Hamas political chief Khalil al-Hayya was set to travel to Cairo on Saturday evening for talks with Egyptian officials, a Hamas source told AFP, as US envoy Jared Kushner prepared to visit Israel and Egypt next week over a disputed Gaza plan.

The Hamas source said Hayya was due to meet Egypt's intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Sunday morning. It would be Hayya's first visit to Egypt since he assumed Hamas's leadership in late July.

Kushner, US President Donald Trump's envoy, is expected to travel with Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump's Board of Peace, which is tasked with implementing the plan. A Board of Peace official said Kushner and Mladenov hoped for “constructive conversations” on advancing Trump's wider peace plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed a 15-point plan announced by Mladenov under which Hamas agreed to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee in Gaza. An initial Board of Peace version said the latest stage of the plan, agreed to by Hamas in late July, would start a phased Israeli withdrawal from much of Gaza. Mladenov later said Israel would not have to withdraw troops until Hamas fully disarmed.

Netanyahu has vowed no pullout and voiced scepticism that Hamas would disarm. Hamas has said it is abiding by the deal. Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday that Hamas was waiting for mediators and the United States to press Netanyahu's government to follow the roadmap.