Discussions are underway in Egypt during the second phase of the ceasefire of Israel-Hamas in Gaza, the first phase of which ends on Saturday.
Heads of Israel joined mediators from Qatar and the United States in Cairo on Thursday for “intensive discussions”, the Egyptian state service announced on Friday.
The envoy of the American Middle East Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, could join the talks.
Discussions on the second phase of the ceasefire are intended to negotiate a complete end to the fighting in Gaza, including the return of all the remaining live captives and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
According to Israel, there are 59 captives in Gaza, 24 of which are still considered alive.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Gideon Saar, said that the government was not sure of the prospects of concluding an agreement, adding that the Israeli team in Cairo should “see if we have common ground to negotiate”.
“We said we are ready to extend the framework (from the first phase) in exchange for the release of more hostages,” said Saar at a press conference on Thursday. “If possible, we will.”
Friday, in a statement, Hamas urged Israel to go to the second phase of the cease-fire agreement and confirmed its “full commitment to implement all the terms of the agreement in all stages and details”.
“We call on the international community to put pressure on the Zionist occupation to fully engage in its role in the agreement and to immediately put the second phase of it without any hesitation or escape.”
It remains to be seen whether an agreement can be reconciled given the declared war objectives of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, with the support of US President Donald Trump, is committed to eliminating Hamas.
Nour Odeh of Tel Aviv Tribune, reporting from the Jordanian capital Amman, said that Israel pushes a 42-day extension of the first phase of the ceasefire.
“In this document, Israel would allow part of the humanitarian aid, some of these mobile tents and houses and the heavy equipment that was supposed to deliver … in Gaza during the first phase, in exchange for Hamas abandoning the only lever effect, which is the presence of Israeli captives,” said Odeh.
This was rejected by Hamas, said Odeh.
“Israel has been telling us for months now, with words and acts, which he does not really intend to end the war,” Mohamad Elmasry, political analyst of the Doha for higher education, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Unless Hamas leaves Gaza, which will not happen, Israel is fully intentional, I think of returning to war.”
Negotiations intervene after Hamas has given the remains of four captives during the night on Thursday, in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, in the last planned exchange of the first phase of the ceasefire.
Israel had postponed the release of 46 of these prisoners, all women and children, due to delays in the verification of the bodies of four of the captives he received.
In a sign that Israel was preparing another violation of truce terms, an Israeli official said Thursday that Israeli forces would not withdraw as planned from the Philadelphi corridor – the long band of land in the south of Gaza who played Egypt. As part of the truce agreement, the Israeli army is supposed to start with the corridor on Saturday and finish its withdrawal within eight days.
The ceasefire, which started on January 19, interrupted 15 months of war which broke out after the attack led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed at least 1,139 people and saw some 250 other people in captivity.
The War of Israel in Gaza has since killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, the majority of women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, while moving more than 90% of the enclosure population and destroying most of the Gaza Strip.
