Hamas rejected Israel’s proposal to extend the first-stage of the cease-fire deal Saturday as the truce expired — with the terror group stating there had been “no progress” on talks over the second phase of the deal.
“Extending the first phase of the deal in the format that Israel wants is unacceptable to the organization,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al-Araby TV.
Qassem said there were no talks over the second phase of the cease-fire scheduled.
The first phase of the deal took effect on Jan. 19 and brought to a halt 15 months of bloody fighting in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and saw another 251 kidnapped. The deal’s initial 42-day truce led to the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees.
Roughly 24 of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be alive, according to Israel.
The first stage of the truce expired Saturday, but the accord stipulated fighting wouldn’t resume amid negotiations for phase two, which was broadly laid out as seeing an end to the war in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in exchange for the remaining 24 hostages’ return.
A third stage called for the bodies of hostages killed on October 7 or in captivity to be be released, and the war would end permanently.
Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian and American officials took part in the talks over the second phase in Cairo, with negotiators from Jerusalem returning home on Friday.
Hamas official Basem Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations would begin again since there was “no progress” in reaching a solution. The terror group was quick to blame Israel for the delay in reaching an agreement on the second phase, claiming push to extend the first phase was “a violation of the agreement” in Hamas’ eyes, according to TOI.
In the wake of Hamas’ rejection of Israel’s proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly scheduled evening meetings with senior ministers and defense officials about the cease-fire deal, the Times of Israel reported, citing Hebrew media.
A senior Western diplomat told TOI on Friday that Israel was preparing for war to resume with Hamas because they didn’t think the cease-fire would last longer than several weeks.
Among the challenges frustrating the future of the cease-fire deal are Israel’s requirement that Hamas cannot have any role in governing Gaza after the war, while Netanyahu also rejected any plan that putsthe Palestinian Authority, which is controlled by the terror group’s rival, Fatah, in charge of the war-torn enclave.
Hamas leader Mohamed Darwish stressed in a letter Saturday that the terror group would be willing to hand over control to a Palestinian national consensus government or a group of officials selected by Egypt not aligned with the terror group or Fatah.
With Post wires.
