Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that his country was ready to proceed to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, as long as Hamas was prepared to release more of the 59 hostages it is still holding.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January under a truce arranged with US support and Qatari and Egyptian mediation. Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
However, the initial 42-day stage of the truce has expired, and Hamas and Israel, which has blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza, remain far apart on broader issues, including the post-war governance of Gaza and the future of Hamas itself.
“We are ready to continue to phase two. But in order to extend the time or the framework, we need an agreement to release more hostages,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem, as Arab leaders prepared to meet in Cairo to discuss a plan for ending the war permanently.
Hamas has said that it wants to proceed to second-phase negotiations that could pave the way for a permanent end to the war, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the devastated Palestinian enclave, and the return of the remaining 59 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
According to Israel, more of its hostages must be handed over for the truce to be extended.
It also backed a plan that it said was proposed by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to extend the ceasefire through the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday, until after the Jewish Passover holiday in April.