View of destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border, January 15, 2026. (Photo by Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
The White House has denied that negotiations have been halted, telling Reuters that discussions regarding the disarmament of Hamas are “ongoing and positive.”
By World Israel News Staff
Efforts by the United States to reach an agreement with Hamas and Israel regarding the implementation of the second phase of the Trump administration’s Gaza peace plan have been frozen for the last week and a half, Reuters reported on Monday.
Citing three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations, the report said that talks have been frozen since the beginning of the conflict with Iran on February 28, just weeks after the US-backed Board of Peace secured billions of dollars in pledges for the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip.
The war has not only diverted American and Israeli attention away from the Gaza plan; it has also impacted regional powers involved in mediating talks with Hamas, such as Qatar.
The White House has denied that negotiations have been halted, telling Reuters that discussions regarding the disarmament of Hamas are “ongoing and positive.”
“All of the mediators agree that this is a critical step to enable rebuilding for the people of Gaza,” a White House official said.
However, Hamas has said that talks on the Gaza plan are now frozen, while a Palestinian source cited in Monday’s report said that a meeting that had been planned for February 28 between mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey was canceled.
So far, the meeting has yet to be rescheduled, the source said.
It is unclear how significant the pause in talks will be for President Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
One source cited in Monday’s report described the pause as a brief delay forced by the travel disruptions resulting from the Iran conflict.
But others argued that the Iran war could distract the US from actively promoting phase two of the Gaza agreement, potentially endangering the entire peace plan.
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