JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An Egyptian source told the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday morning that the current round of talks with the Hamas delegation in Cairo is focused on four main issues:

• The launch of the technocratic committee’s work.
• The “storage” of weapons, as proposed by Egypt.
• The responsibilities of the Peace Council and the guarantees for the ceasefire.
• Coordination regarding the proposed international stabilization force.

The Egyptian source did not deny that disagreements remain over these issues. He hinted that Nikolay Mladenov, the representative of the Peace Council, may travel to Cairo if the talks make positive progress.

The source claimed that “Hamas is taking positive steps,” and that its delegation has full authority to make decisions while coordinating with other Palestinian militant organizations.

According to the Egyptian source: “There is growing pressure for this round of talks in Cairo to succeed, particularly because of the presence of Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın, who is helping accelerate efforts to reach an agreement.”

He revealed that: “Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar are making joint efforts to ease the pressure on Hamas, which could otherwise come from other regional actors such as Iran, which has recently entered a period of crisis. There is an urgent need to reach an agreement to move forward on the Gaza issue.”

Recently, Hamas sources raised the possibility that the Iranian regime could incorporate the Gaza issue into its negotiations with the United States.

Regarding the agenda of the Cairo talks, the source explained that the first issue is launching the work of the technocratic committee associated with the Palestinian Authority.

The second issue is establishing the framework and key components of the proposed plan for storing weapons, along with discussions on how to reconcile the principles of disarmament with the concept of storing rather than immediately surrendering the weapons.

The third issue is reaching agreement on the new responsibilities of the Peace Council, particularly concerning the guarantees it is expected to provide.

The fourth issue, according to the Egyptian source, is coordination among the relevant parties regarding the planned international stabilization force. He said that several countries have already sent delegations to discuss the matter, and that the participation of additional countries will become clearer in the near future.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to expand its control of the Gaza strip, as Hamas has shown no signs of disarmament and has reportedly been gaining strength and recruiting new fighters in recent weeks.

According to Energy Minister Eli Cohen, Israel is steadily increasing its territorial control in Gaza as part of the ongoing military campaign, and he expects that trend to continue in the coming months.

“We already see that we are progressing,” he said. “I assume that when you will speak to me [again] in a few months, our control of the territory will only continue to expand until we reach 100%.”

“If two months ago we controlled 53% of the Strip, about a month ago around 60%,  today we’re approaching 70% of the Strip’s area.”