The last round of talks on the second phase of the cessation of fire between Israel and Hamas has not advanced so far, and it was not clear if the conversations would resume Saturday, said a senior Hamas official.
The first phase of the cessation of the fire, which stopped 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The first phase expires on Saturday, but under the terms of the agreement, the struggle is not to resume while the negotiations are being carried out in the second phase, which could end the war in Gaza and see that the remaining living hostages returned home.
Officials of Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have participated in negotiations in the second phase in Cairo, with the aim of ending the war with the return of all the remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of the Israeli troops.
Hamas did not attend the conversations, but his position has been represented through the Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Base Naim, a member of the Hamas political office, told The Associated Press that there was no « progress » in finding a solution before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday.
It was unclear if the mediators will return to Cairo again to resume conversations on Saturday as expected, and Naim said he had « no idea » when negotiations could begin again.
Israeli and Hamas officials say that the last stop on the exchange of prisoners and hostages has been resolved by Egyptian mediators. The resolution of the Gaza Fire cessation agreement took place the same day as the Funeral of the young Bibas family after the delivery of their bodies last week.
Hamas began the war with October 7, 2023, an attack that left 1,200 deaths in Israel. Since then, the military offensive of Israel has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health officials, who do not differentiate between civilian and fighters, but say that more than half of the dead have been women and children.
The two parties agreed on the cessation of three -phase fire in January, with the aim of ending the war.
On Friday, Hamas said that « he reaffirms his complete commitment to implement all the terms of the agreement in all stages and details » and asked the international community to press Israel to « continue immediately in the second phase without any delay or evasion ».
In addition to the second phase of fire cessation, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that mediators in conversations were « also discussing ways to improve humanitarian aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, as part of the efforts to relieve population suffering and region support stability. »
Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal to expand the first phase of the cessation of 42 days, saying that it is against the truce agreement, according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss closed doors negotiations.
The Israeli proposal calls for expanding the cessation of fire through the sacred Muslim month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday, in exchange for an additional host exchange, said Hamas member.
The UN Food Agency, the World Food Program, said on Saturday in a publication on social media that reached a million Palestinians throughout Gaza during the first phase of the agreement.
The pause in the struggle helped to « restore distribution points, to reopen the bakeries and to extend the cash assistance, » said the agency.
« The cessation of the fire must maintain, » he said. « There can be no back. »
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