Israel attended talks Thursday with the Palestinian group Hamas on the second phase of the ceasefire of Gaza agreed between the two in January, according to Egypt, which welcomes talks.
But even if the talks begin, Israeli officials have clearly indicated that they were trying to modify the terms of the three -phase agreement agreed, endangering its success.
Under the terms of the agreement, the first phase of six weeks – which should end on March 1 – would see the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the main areas of Gaza population, an increase in humanitarian aid in Gaza and the return of displaced people north of the enclave.
As part of the agreement, in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli detention, Hamas released 33 of the captives – including eight bodies.
The terms of the second phase of the agreement were intentionally vague, providing that many of the details would be marked in future negotiations. Among the terms to contain were the details of a lasting ceasefire to end the Israel War against Gaza – which killed more than 61,700 Palestinians – the complete withdrawal of Israeli Enclave forces and the release of all the remaining captives held by Hamas in exchange for an indefinite number of Palestinian prisoners.
The third stage of the agreement would focus on the future Gaza governance and the reconstruction of the destroyed enclave.
What did Israel said about talks?
On Thursday, a statement provided to journalists by an anonymous Israeli official said that Israel had decided not to withdraw from the field period he occupied along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite that being part of the previous agreement.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi corridor. We do not allow Hamas murderers to travel our borders again with vans and firearms, and we do not allow them to rearore smuggling, “said the official.
The satellite images obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune earlier this month have shown that the Israeli army had started new constructions in the area around the border.
Also Thursday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, said that the Israel delegation in talks in Cairo “would see if we have common ground to negotiate”.
“We have said that we are ready to extend the framework (from the first phase) in exchange for the publication of more hostages,” the journalists told Saar.
Have all the exchanges agreed for the first phase that were respected?
Hamas handed over the coffins of the last four of the Israeli captives to exchange during the first phase of the agreement without ceremony on Wednesday, and Israel then released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.
The prisoners’ release was supposed to take place on Saturday, but Israel delayed the transfer of protest against a ceremony held in Gaza when the bodies of four Israeli captives were released last week.
Hamas criticized the delay, denying that the ceremony had humiliated and called on the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a deliberate attempt to disturb the agreement, (this) represents a blatant violation of its terms, and shows the lack of reliability of the occupation in the implementation of its obligations,” said Hamas’ political office on Sunday.
Is this the first time that Israel has been accused of having violated the cease-fire conditions?
The Gaza Government’s Media Bureau (GMO) reported more than 350 Israeli violations, including military incursions, shots, air strikes, intensified surveillance and obstruction of aid since the start of the ceasefire.
According to the GMO, the Israeli army has killed and injured dozens of Palestinians through air strikes as well as shots from the entry into force of the ceasefire. The GMO previously pointed out delays by allowing displaced families to return to the northern areas of Gaza as well as gaps in the agreed assistance and emergency levels authorized in the enclave.
Do the United States push for an extension of the ceasefire?
The envoy of the Middle East of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, will fly to the region this week to put pressure for an extension of the current phase, in order to enter stage two.
Witkoff also announced Tuesday that a “summit” of developers would take place to determine the future of Gaza. However, it was not clear when neither where this summit would be held, or if he referred to the agreement on the ceasefire in three stages, or to Trump’s surprise plan to “own” Gaza unilaterally, as evidenced by a recent video shared on social networks by the American president.
Trump has always called “peacemaker” and highlighted his role in securing the ceasefire. But – apart from its very derived Gaza plan which, according to criticism, would effectively lead to the ethnic cleaning of its Palestinian population – it was more ambivalent as to the future of the cease -fire agreement and has suggested that Israel’s decision continues or not.
Is the cease-fire popular in Israel?
Among the families of captives, yes. Among the far -right movements and the colonists of Israel, no.
Many families of captives consider Netanyahu as having manipulated both war and ceasefire negotiations for its political ends.
However, the negotiated release of some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners also attracted the anger of far -right movements and the colonists of Israel.
When the terms of the ceasefire were first agreed, the Minister of Far Right of Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned from his cabinet to protest. At the same time, the Minister of Pro-Settler of the hard line, Bezalel Smotrich, was only convinced to stay in the cabinet with implicit insurance from Netanyahu that the agreement would not lead to a permanent end to war.