Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had directed his delegation to set out for Egypt to hold talks on a ceasefire in the Hamas war in Gaza two days before the first phase of the fragile agreement.
The Israeli team is scheduled to leave Cairo in Egypt’s capital on Thursday night, a statement from the prime minister’s office said. The news comes the day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, and the last time will be released based on the first phase of the six-week deal in January.
600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were supposed to be released on the weekend were released Wednesday, including 46 women and children. Some have amputated limbs in Israeli custody, and many have been thinner.
The first phase of the ceasefire will end on March 2. Negotiations on how to implement the second phase (which would result in a permanent end to the war) should have started a few weeks ago, but were repeatedly postponed as a fragile truce plunged the crisis into crisis.
Both sides accused the other of repeated breaches of the agreement, which suspended combat for 15 months, allowed substantial increase in aid supplies and withdrew Israeli forces from all positions outside the border area of the Gaza Strip. More than 48,000 people were killed in Gaza during the conflict, reducing the territory of the ruins and creating a serious humanitarian crisis. In the Hamas attack, about 1,200 people were killed and 250 took hostages to the war.
Government officials told Israeli media on Thursday that Israel hopes to expand into the first phase of renegotiation in the updated talks. It is not clear whether the first phase hostage swap batch will continue if the first phase expires on Sunday, or how long it will last.
Polls show that most Israelis favor continuing the ceasefire to free the remaining 59 hostages, at least 39 of whom are believed to be dead. However, as most of his right-wing governments fulfilled the goal of the war-promoted “complete victory” against Hamas’ goal, Netanyahu was reluctant to commit to a second phase of the truce. An extreme coalition partner threatens that if Israel does not return to fight, it will make the Israeli Prime Minister more vulnerable to allegations of corruption, which will put the government in bankruptcy.
Hamas said in a statement Thursday that it was ready to start the conversation in Phase 2, and that the only way for the remaining hostages in Gaza is through “committing to a ceasefire.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters that the delegation would travel to Egypt to see if there is a common point in negotiation extensions. “We said we’re ready to make the frame longer in exchange for more hostages. We’ll do it if possible,” he said.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israeli officials confirmed that the country would not withdraw its troops from the Gaza-Egypt border area, which could once again put the future of the truce in danger.
Hamas responded to comments from Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who asked the Israeli military to stay on the southern border of Gaza.
During the second phase of the deal (uncertain duration), Israel should withdraw its troops entirely from Gaza, effectively ending the war, and should begin negotiations on the future governance of striptease. The reconstruction begins in the third phase, but there are huge differences in the future of both sides in Gaza.
Hamas said it was willing to give up control of the Gaza Strip, but its leadership refused to exile. Israel insists that at the end of the war it will not allow Hamas or the Palestinian authorities based in the West Bank to manage the territory.
Also on Thursday, a car crash in northern Israel injured 14 people, a critical police said police said it was conducted by a 53-year-old Palestinian from Jenin, who lives in the West Bank. The suspect was shot dead at the scene.
Overnight, dozens of Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces as part of a military operation throughout the West Bank that began two days after the truce in Gaza.
