A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Iran is reportedly seeking to include Gaza in its discussions with the United States in an attempt to end hostilities in the war-torn enclave, as the regime seeks to preserve its regional proxy network, ramp up pressure on Israel, and influence ceasefire negotiations.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told senior Hamas official Basem Naim that the Iranian negotiation team will “raise the issue of the occupiers’ ongoing aggression against Gaza” with Washington, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.

Iran’s top diplomat reportedly thanked Hamas for its support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and reiterated Tehran’s “support for Palestinians and their just cause until their legitimate national rights are fully realized.”

For Hamas’s part, Naim praised Iran’s steadfast backing of the terrorist group and thanked the regime for its “consistent and firm position regarding the Palestinian cause.”

The United States and Iran digitally signed a memorandum of understanding last week, bringing the agreement into immediate effect and formally launching a process aimed at ending their war.

The 14-point memorandum calls for an immediate and permanent end to the war across all fronts — including Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah — with both sides pledging not to carry out hostile actions, threaten force, or interfere in each other’s internal affairs.

Now, Iran is looking to pressure Washington during the 60-day negotiation window to also secure Gaza’s inclusion in the ceasefire agreement, mirroring its approach with Lebanon — with Israel notably excluded from the negotiations and broader diplomatic track.

In Gaza, Hamas has continued to reject disarmament, further stalling progress on the US-backed ceasefire initiative there.

Should negotiations collapse entirely, Israeli officials are weighing contingency plans for a renewed military campaign and expanded operations in Gaza.

For months now, the US-led Board of Peace has been conducting parallel negotiations with Israel and Hamas, attempting to tie the large-scale reconstruction of the war-torn enclave to the complete dismantling of the terrorist group’s weapons arsenal.

However, after continued failed attempts to reach an agreement, the Board of Peace will not hold Israel to the terms of last year’s ceasefire any longer if Hamas rejects again the proposed disarmament framework.

Hamas has consistently refused to relinquish its weapons, insisting that Israel must first fully comply with phase one of the ceasefire — including expanded humanitarian aid deliveries, full reopening of the Rafah crossing, and withdrawal of Israeli forces to the agreed Yellow Line — before any disarmament process can proceed.

For its part, Israel has warned that the Islamist group must fully disarm for the second phase of the ceasefire to move forward, pointing to tens of thousands of rifles and an active network of underground tunnels still under the terrorist group’s control.

If Hamas does not give up its weapons, Israeli officials have vowed not to withdraw troops from Gaza any further or approve any rebuilding efforts, effectively stalling the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military currently controls about 70 percent of Gaza, while Hamas remains entrenched in the rest of the territory it still controls, where the vast majority of the population lives.

In its latest counterproposal, the terrorist group said that any transfer of its weapons would only be possible as part of a wider process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

As the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement remains stalled, Israeli officials have warned that Hamas is quietly exploiting the pause in fighting to tighten its control over civilian life while simultaneously rebuilding its military capabilities behind the scenes.