Reuters — Talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.

The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump’s flagship Middle East peace initiative, which he has cast as a major foreign policy objective. It comes less than a month after he secured billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza from Gulf Arab states – countries that are now facing Iranian attacks as the conflict widens.

Trump’s Gaza plan has hinged in part on whether Hamas terrorists would lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty, a step intended to pave the way for reconstruction and further Israeli military withdrawals. White House mediators have been backchanneling between Israel and Hamas on the disarmament question.

Negotiations on this and other issues were paused when the Iran war began on February 28, the three sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks. The pause in disarmament talks has not been previously reported.

Zaha Hassan, of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said countries including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar which pledged funds for Trump’s Board of Peace mission may be questioning if this is “really money well spent now that they are dodging rocket fire.”

Hamas confirms pause to talks on Trump plan

One of the sources, who has direct knowledge of work by Trump’s Board of Peace mission, described the pause as a brief, minor delay caused by flight disruptions preventing mediators and representatives from travelling around the region. Talks have frequently been held in Cairo.

Over the longer term, the Board of Peace believes the war could accelerate a resolution of the disarmament issue by removing Iranian influence, which has long supported Hamas financially, the source said.

Another source — a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort — said Hamas had been expected to hold talks with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators on the day the war erupted, but the meeting was scrapped and no new date has been set.

A Hamas official confirmed that talks on Trump’s Gaza plan had been frozen for now, but declined to elaborate. Israel’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately provide comment.

Israel’s military has eased off strikes in Gaza since the start of the war with Iran but, citing Hamas threats, has not ceased attacks, as Israeli jets carry out bombing campaigns against the Iranian regime and against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since February 28, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

“The moment the war on Iran is over, (Israel) will come back at us with the same frequency, with the same violence,” said Talal Hamouda, 46, who lives in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, with his wife and five children.

Hamas, for its part, has continued to reassert its grip in areas under its control in Gaza since the war began. Sources close to the group say Hamas fighters in recent days ambushed several Israeli-backed gang members in Gaza’s north and south, killing at least two people.

Concern over potential attack on US-led base in Israel

Trump’s plan for Gaza began with an October ceasefire that brought about the release of the remaining hostages and left Israel controlling more than half the territory, with Hamas controlling the rest. The initiative appeared to gain momentum in the month leading up to the war with Iran, including the reopening of Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt and new pledges for reconstruction.

Much of Washington’s multinational coordination on Gaza policy has been run out of a US-led military compound in southern Israel. Foreign diplomats posted there said momentum behind the plan appeared to stall as the Iran war escalated.

Three diplomats said the Civil Military Coordination Center scaled back to minimal operations when the war started, and that there were concerns it could be targeted by Iranian missiles.

The diplomats said senior US officials now appear focused on the Iran war, leaving Gaza with limited top-level attention. Still, working-level discussions among countries have continued in the hope that the plan could move forward once the war ends.

Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that “only sustained attention from the Trump administration can keep the plan on track — and the war with Iran has the potential to undermine exactly that.”

“Without it, the divergent aims of the two warring parties could easily lead to very different outcomes, and potentially to a resumption of fighting.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:

Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;

Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and

Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 ExclusiveTrump to Times of Israel: It’ll be a ‘mutual’ decision with Netanyahu regarding when Iran war ends

2 1 man killed, 2 seriously wounded as Iranian cluster bomb warhead hits central Israel

3 AnalysisMore hardline than his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment signals defiance and revenge

4 Iranian soccer team exits Women’s Asian Cup and faces tricky prospect of return home

5 Two IDF soldiers killed in Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon

6 Arraba mayor and his deputy shot and injured amid unrelenting crime wave

7 Calls grow for Australia to give Iran’s women’s soccer team asylum after anthem protest

8 IDF chief warns ‘no safe place’ for Iranian regime as fighting enters second week

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

© The Times of Israel