ALAMEIN, Aug. 17 -- More than 1,250 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire began in October 2025. The bombs did not stop.

On Saturday, Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law and personal envoy, sat across from Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's most senior political leader, at a meeting convened in the Egyptian coastal city of Alamein. The encounter, among the most direct contacts between an American figure and Hamas leadership since the conflict began in October 2023, lasted several hours and produced statements from both sides asserting progress.

It is not clear that progress exists.

Hamas said it had "fully adhered to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement." Israel has resumed air strikes on Gaza, a fact Hamas cited as evid...