Israel says ready for extending ceasefire if Hamas signs deal to free more hostages

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that Israel is prepared to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, provided Hamas agrees to release more of the 59 hostages it still holds.

The ceasefire, brokered with US backing and mediated by Qatar and Egypt, has stopped fighting in Gaza since January 19. So far, Hamas has released 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

“We are ready to continue to phase two,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem as Arab leaders prepared to meet in Cairo to discuss a plan for ending the war permanently.

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“But in order to extend the time or the framework, we need an agreement to release more hostages.”

But the initial 42-day 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 postwar governance of Gaza and the future of Hamas itself.

Hamas says it wants to move ahead to the second phase negotiations that could open the way to a permanent end to the war with the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the devastated Palestinian enclave and a return of the remaining 59 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023.

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But Israel says its hostages must be handed over for the truce to be extended and backs a plan to extend the ceasefire during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday, until after the Jewish Passover holiday in April.

Arab leaders to meet to counter Trump’s Gaza plan

A summit of Arab leaders in Cairo is set to adopt Egypt’s counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be depopulated and transformed into a beach destination.

The meeting comes amid deadlock between Hamas and Israel over next steps in a fragile January 19 ceasefire in Gaza.

After the first phase of the truce ended over the weekend without agreement on how to continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced a halt to “all entry of goods and supplies” into the territory.

Israel’s “closure of the Gaza Strip crossings for the third consecutive day, and its prevention of the entry of aid and goods, represents a Zionist insistence on violating the ceasefire agreement, and a clear war crime”, Hamas said in its statement.

With inputs from agencies