Hamas said on Saturday that it rejected Israel’s “formulation” of an extension to the first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza, on the day that stage of the agreement was set to expire.
Despite expectations that negotiations would resume on Saturday, the terror group’s spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, also told Al-Araby TV there were no current talks for a second ceasefire phase in the Gaza Strip.
After the Hamas announcement, Hebrew media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled consultations with senior ministers and defense officials on the state of the deal at 7:30 p.m Saturday. The premier also held an extensive discussion on Friday evening, which, in a rare instance, continued into Shabbat.
Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States had been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo, with negotiators from Jerusalem returning home on Friday. Hamas did not attend the negotiations, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told the Associated Press there had been “no progress” before Israeli negotiators left Cairo.
It was unclear whether those mediators would return to Cairo to resume talks on Saturday as expected, and Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might resume.
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 16, 2025. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
Saudi Television station Asharq cited a source close to Hamas on Saturday who blamed “Israel’s procrastination” for the lack of a deal on the second phase.
The source said Jerusalem is seeking to extend the current first phase and that Hamas considers this “a violation of the agreement.” The second phase is meant to include steps leading to a permanent end to the war, including a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip.
The source added that the terror group “demanded that the mediators oblige Tel Aviv to implement all the terms of the agreement, because Israel is the one that continues to violate and breach the agreement, as it is delaying entering into the second phase negotiations.”
Under the ceasefire outline agreed to by Israel and Hamas, the remaining living hostages — believed to include 24 people — are to be released during the second stage of the deal. A third stage is also ostensibly planned, during which the bodies of hostages killed on October 7 or in captivity would be released, and the war would end permanently.
The first phase of the ceasefire was set to end on Saturday, and the warring parties have yet to clarify what would happen if no agreement was reached by then. Two Israeli government officials told Reuters on Friday that Israel was seeking to extend the initial phase, with Hamas freeing three hostages each week in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.
Meanwhile, a senior Western diplomat told The Times of Israel on Friday that Israel was gearing up to return to war with Hamas, believing the ceasefire will not last for more than several weeks.
While the IDF’s tactics in such a renewed conflict would ostensibly shift from the last year of fighting, with Israeli military and political officials pledging a more intensive campaign, the Western diplomat briefed on Jerusalem’s preparations said there did not appear to be a strategic shift in Israel’s approach regarding the advancement of an alternative to Hamas.
The government is still prioritizing the dismantlement of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities, believing that no alternative can be established in Gaza until the terror group has been defeated, the diplomat said. However, the diplomat argued that this approach was “misguided,” asserting that planning and implementing an alternative to Hamas must happen simultaneously with the IDF’s campaign against the terror organization.
“Otherwise, what you will have is indefinite Israeli occupation and Hamas insurgency,” the diplomat said.
Hamas terrorists stand watch over Gazans at a funeral ceremony for people killed during the war with Israel, at the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City on February 28, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
An Israeli official sent a statement to reporters Thursday rejecting any withdrawal of IDF troops from the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite the deal’s requirement that it do so by the 50th day of the ceasefire.
Israel contends that the border zone is a major smuggling route that will be used by Hamas to bring more weapons and fortifications into Gaza to rebuild its decimated forces unless it is policed by Israeli troops. Both Hamas and Egypt reject a continued Israeli presence there.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not allow the Hamas murderers to again roam our borders with pickup trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rearm through smuggling,” the Israeli official said.
Israel, with backing from the US, has repeatedly said it will not allow Hamas any role in the future governance of Gaza and that it is prepared to resume fighting to prevent such an outcome. Netanyahu has also refused any role for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
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