Phase 1 of the six-week-old agreement is set to expire this weekend, with attempts being made to prolong it with additional hostage releases and continued humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory
(Feb. 28, 2025 / JNS) — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began late Thursday, Egyptian authorities said, in an “intensive” effort to extend the truce.
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The talks come as Phase 1 of the six-week-old agreement is set to expire this weekend, with attempts being made to prolong it with additional hostage releases and continued humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory as Ramadan is set to begin on Friday evening, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Officials from Israel, Qatar and the United States started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt’s state information service said.
“The mediators are also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region,” the statement continued.
The announcement came a day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israel hostages in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian terrorists held by Israel. The late-night handover of the corpses to the International Red Cross was carried out without a propaganda ceremony after Israel earlier held up the Palestinians’ scheduled release due to Hamas’s televised stunts when releasing hostages.
Fifty-nine hostages are still being held in Gaza, about 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Thursday the government is uncertain about the prospects of reaching a deal, adding the Israeli team in Cairo would have to “see whether we have common ground to negotiate.”
“We said we are ready to extend the framework (of Phase 1) in return for the release of more hostages,” Sa’ar said at a news conference in Jerusalem. “If it is possible, we’ll do that.”
The Phase 2 of the ceasefire is meant to include a complete end to the war, including the return of all remaining captives from Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
An Israeli official said earlier Thursday that the military will not withdraw from a strategic corridor along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.
The official told reporters that the army needed to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Sinai, to prevent weapons smuggling.
The extension of the first stage of the deal is seen as a way around the more difficult to reach second stage and reconciling Israel’s goal of dismantling Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and the terrorist group’s refusal to disarm.
While Hamas has voiced willingness to extend Phase 1 of the ceasefire, it is demanding a large increase in the number of Palestinian terrorists released for each of the remaining Israeli hostages.
With talks ongoing, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit the region early next week, in an effort to extend the truce.
At the same time, the Israeli military is getting ready for a return to war against Hamas, assuming that any such deal will not last more than several weeks.
The 15-month war against Hamas in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel in which Gazans killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 others to the Strip, in the worst single-day attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.