Hamas said it has no intention of extending the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was set to expire on Saturday.
Spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Al Araby TV that there were no ongoing talks to begin the second phase of the ceasefire, which was supposed to guarantee the definitive end of the war, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of remaining captives.
Israel officials joined “intensive discussions” with mediators from Qatar and the United States in Cairo on Thursday, but those talks have yet to bear fruit.
The first phase of the truce, which began on January 19, largely halted over 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the ceasefire in Gaza “must hold”.
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“The ceasefire and hostage release deal must hold. The coming days are critical. The parties must spare no effort to avoid a breakdown of this deal,” Guterres said in New York.
Hamas has said that it will refuse to discuss anything other than the implementation of the second phase of the agreement.
“The second phase of the agreement is supposed to start tomorrow, Sunday,” a senior Hamas official told AFP on Saturday, on condition of anonymity.
Hamas accused Israel of trying “to play for time and violate the agreement”.
Israel wants Hamas to release captives as part of an extension of the first phase rather than move on to the second phase, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly said it reserves the right to resume fighting at any time to annihilate Hamas if it does not give up on laying down its arms.
Israeli media reports indicate that Israel is not planning to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza on Saturday, in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
According to Israeli media, an anonymous source said: “We will not withdraw from the Philadelphia route. We will not allow Hamas murderers to roam our border again with trucks and rifles, and we will not let them rearm through smuggling.”
The report came as Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the Philadelphi Corridor will remain a buffer zone, like ones that Israel has imposed in Lebanon and Syria, according to Channel 12.
Hamas condemned Katz’s statement, saying that Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor is a breach of the terms of the deal.
Ramadan uncertainty
The ceasefire came to an end just a day after the start of Ramadan in Gaza, leaving residents to observe the Islamic holy month with an uncertain future ahead.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has left at least 48,319 dead, the majority of them civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The approximately 2.4 million inhabitants of the besieged territory have been displaced in their entirety, living in catastrophic conditions.
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During the first phase of the ceasefire, more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for 25 living Israeli captives and eight deceased ones.
An estimated 10,000 Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli custody, while 59 Israelis are held in Gaza.
A third phase should be devoted to the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory, a project estimated by the UN at more than $53bn.
On Saturday, Al Jazeera Arabic reported that 33 patients in need of medical attention had left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
The patients were accompanied by 55 relatives. Most of the patients have chronic diseases, including cancer, and have been unable to receive treatment since the start of Israel’s war.
Approximately 400 Palestinians will be allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment as part of the ceasefire deal.
Swiss conference call
The Swiss foreign ministry said on Saturday that it was calling for an international conference on the situation of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories on 7 March, as requested by the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
“We can inform you that a conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention will be held in Geneva on March 7, 2025,” a spokesperson told AFP in an email.
“Switzerland has invited the 196 States Parties to the Geneva Convention to participate in the conference.”
The participants are the permanent representatives of the High Contracting Parties based in Geneva.
The UNGA mandated Switzerland on 18 September to organise the conference and discuss the protection of the civilian population “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.
