Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey urged senior US officials to prevent Israel from striking in Gaza, a source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post.
(From L-R) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US President Donald Trump, and Qatari PM and FM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, at Gaza ceasefire summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025; illustrative.(photo credit: Evan Vucci – Pool/Getty Images)ByAMICHAI STEINUpdated: Senior officials from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey approached high-level US officials, asking them to prevent Israel from striking in the Gaza Strip, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Their appeal included a request to block Israeli strikes both inside the Yellow Line and in other unspecified locations.
This request also followed a similar one that was made over the weekend during a meeting between Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
“The message from those officials was: You do not want the war to resume. You also do not believe that a multinational force will disarm the terrorist organization. Therefore, this is the proposal that can work at the moment,” a source familiar with the discussions said.
A Hamas terrorist sits inside a vehicle in Gaza City, November 20, 2025; illustrative. (credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS)
This proposal has been raised repeatedly in recent months, including in talks between the mediators and senior Hamas officials, and is now being formally presented to the Trump administration.
Advertisement
In turn, Israeli officials have made clear in recent weeks that Israel will agree to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip only after the return of the final deceased hostage, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili, and the complete disarmament of Hamas.
The mediating countries, however, believe the two processes should take place simultaneously.
“If you want to get Hamas to agree to give up even a portion of its weapons stockpile, then you have to offer it something in return. That could come in the form of rebuilding Gaza,” a regional diplomat told the Post.
US working with Qatar, Turkey, Egypt to establish Gaza Board of Peace soon
Meanwhile, discussions continue regarding the establishment of various bodies to govern the enclave. Trump announced that a “board of peace” encompassing regional and European leaders would be unveiled early next year.
Advertisement
Regarding the proposed technocratic government intended to administer the Gaza Strip, a list of names has been submitted to Israel and is currently under review by Israeli intelligence agencies.
Israeli officials have clarified that they will not agree to any involvement by figures affiliated with either the Palestinian Authority or Hamas in that government.
“The next key milestone regarding Gaza is the meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week,” a source familiar with the matter told the Post.
“There is hope that this will accelerate the approval of the list regarding the technocratic government. Everything is already in the hands of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Mossad. Now we are just waiting for final approval,” the source added.
Iran held missile drills in various cities on Monday, state media reported, citing unnamed sources and witnesses, in what was the second such reported exercise in a month.
NBC News reported on Saturday that US President Donald Trump was to be briefed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any expansion of Iran‘s ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action.
Western powers regard Iran‘s ballistic missile arsenal both as a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them. It denies any intent to build atomic bombs.
The Telegram channel of Iran‘s public broadcaster and semi-official Nournews published videos of what appeared to be missile launches, without specifying the whereabouts.
However, the outlets said launches took place from the capital Tehran and the cities of Isfahan and Mashhad. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
State media later on Monday cited “informed sources” as denying that missiles were tested and saying the circulated images were of “high-altitude aircraft.” No clarification regarding the conflicting reports was provided.
NBC reported that Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the US bombed in June, and were preparing to brief Trump for options on attacking the missile program again.
Earlier this month, the navy of Iran‘s elite Revolutionary Guards held a two-day exercise aimed at countering foreign threats, firing ballistic and cruise missiles at simulated targets in the Gulf.
Illustrative: Smoke rises from the site of a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of al-Katrani on December 18, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
The Israeli military said that it targeted two Hezbollah operatives in strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, with one being killed.
The Lebanese health ministry also reported one person killed and another wounded in the strikes in the southern Lebanon town of Yater.
One of the strikes killed a Hezbollah operative involved in restoring the terror group’s infrastructure in the area, the army said on Monday, adding that his activities “constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
The army published footage of the strike.
Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure or operatives violating the November 2024 ceasefire.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon locations that it deems strategic.
The health ministry in Beirut said on Sunday that “two Israeli enemy strikes today, on a vehicle and a motorbike in the town of Yater,” killed one person and wounded another. Yater is around five kilometers (three miles) from the border with Israel.
In two separate, but identical statements, issued within 15 minutes, the IDF said it “struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the area of Yater.”
Also on Sunday, Lebanon’s army said in a statement that troops had discovered and dismantled “an Israeli spy device” in Yaroun, elsewhere in south Lebanon near the border.
Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah and plans to do so south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel, by year end.
Israel has questioned the Lebanese military’s effectiveness and has accused Hezbollah of rearming, while the group itself has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.
During a visit to Israel on Sunday, US Senator Lindsey Graham also accused Hezbollah of rearming.
Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
“My impression is that Hezbollah is trying to make more weapons… That’s not an acceptable outcome,” Graham said in a video statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
This week at talks in Paris, Lebanon’s army chief agreed to document the military’s progress in disarming Hezbollah, the French foreign ministry said.
On Friday, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month under the committee’s auspices.
Israel said Friday’s meeting was part of broader efforts to ensure Hezbollah’s disarmament and strengthen security in border areas.
The US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah came after two months of open conflict in Lebanon late last year, including an IDF ground operation in the country’s south, in a bid to enable the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the terror group’s near-daily attacks. The rocket attacks began on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.
The ceasefire required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese armed forces. Israel has withdrawn from all but five strategic posts along the border.
Since the ceasefire, the IDF said it has killed over 380 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.
