Ceasefire talks in Egypt between Palestinian factions and mediators face a serious test after Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative of the “Board of Peace“, demanded that not a “single bullet” should be left in Gaza.Among the maximalist demands of US President Donald Trump’s oversight body for Gaza is the complete disarmament of Hamas, the surrender of maps of tunnels operated by the group, and even weapons privately held by Palestinians in the enclave.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listDetails from sources involved in the Cairo talks say that the handover of Palestinian weapons is the primary hurdle to completely ending Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.Palestinian officials argue that the complete disarmament stipulation means that Mladenov is essentially a facilitator for Israel’s maximalist demands.The battle over Clause 8At the heart of the current deadlock is “Clause 8”, a pivotal section of the United States-brokered October 2025 ceasefire plan, which dictates the exact terms of disarmament, the management of military infrastructure in post-war Gaza, as well as the transfer of security responsibilities for the enclave to a unified Palestinian body.An informed source familiar with the internal dynamics of the talks told Al Jazeera that Hamas initially demonstrated “high positivity” regarding this clause.For the first time, Hamas had agreed to the handover of its “inventory and storage of heavy weapons”, referring to the arsenal of rockets, missiles, and Kornet antitank missiles that the movement is believed to possess. Advertisement “The mediators were, of course, happy because for the first time Hamas engaged with this matter,” the informed sour …
