The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce was due to expire yesterday, but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive.
The ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19 after more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history.
Over several weeks, Gaza militants freed 25 living hostages and returned the bodies of eight others to Israel, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The second phase of the fragile truce, which was brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt after months of grueling negotiations, should begin today, and should secure the release of dozens of hostages still in Gaza.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold a ministerial meeting with security officials, after he sent a delegation to Egypt for discussions on phase two of the truce, Israeli media reported.
“The relevant parties have begun intensive talks to discuss the next phases of the truce agreement, amid ongoing efforts to ensure the implementation of the previously agreed understandings,” the Egyptian State Information Service said on Thursday.
It also said Israeli, Qatari and US delegations were in Cairo for the talks.
By early yesterday, there was no sign of consensus, or of a presence of a Hamas delegation in the Egyptian capital.
Max Rodenbeck, of the International Crisis Group think tank, said the second phase could not be expected to start yesterday.
“But I think the ceasefire probably won’t collapse also,” he said.
The preferred scenario for Israel is to free more hostages under an extension of the first phase, rather than a second phase, Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said.
Hamas, for its part, has pushed hard for phase two to begin, after it sustained staggering losses in the devastating war.
In a statement, it said that it “affirms its full commitment to implementing all the provisions of the agreement in all its stages and details.”
The group also called for global pressure on Israel “to immediately enter the second phase of the agreement without any delay.”
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’ attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
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