The United States and Hamas held their first direct talks since the Gaza ceasefire began, meeting in Cairo on Tuesday night in an effort to advance the stalled agreement, two Hamas sources told CNN.

A U.S. delegation led by Aryeh Lightstone, a Trump administration adviser based in Tel Aviv, met with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. Lightstone was joined by Nikolay Mladenov, who heads the Gaza Peace Council.

According to the report, al-Hayya used the meeting to press Lightstone to ensure Israel fully meets its commitments under the first phase of the ceasefire — including halting strikes and allowing increased humanitarian aid into the Strip — as a condition for moving the process forward.

The Cairo meeting came after Lightstone also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure Israel’s commitment to implementing its obligations under the first phase of the agreement. A U.S. source and a diplomat familiar with the meeting said Israel agreed to fulfill those demands, on the condition that Hamas commits to disarm.

Broader negotiations involving Hamas officials, Gaza Peace Council representatives and international mediators have been working toward understandings on the next phase of the ceasefire, covering issues including Hamas disarmament, the deployment of an international force in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.

But those talks have repeatedly hit the same wall. Several sources said discussions have stalled over demands that Hamas agree to disarm before Israel fulfills its first-phase commitments, a sequencing that Hamas has firmly rejected.

A senior Hamas source described the proposal as “unbalanced,” saying it “reduces the entire process to a single clause — disarmament — while other commitments of the first phase are postponed or pushed aside.” The source also said Mladenov has begun conveying Israeli demands directly, and warned that the Israeli military would resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not agree to disarm.

Hamas and several international organizations operating in Gaza have accused Israel of failing to uphold its ceasefire obligations. Israeli officials have denied the claims, countering that Hamas itself has violated the terms of the deal.

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