An Israeli negotiation team will depart for Cairo on Monday to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday.
In a statement from his office, Netanyahu explained that he had spoken by phone with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, after which he instructed the Israeli team to travel to Cairo.
The team will initially discuss the “continuation of the implementation of Phase One of the deal” and will “receive instructions on continuing negotiations regarding the second phase” following a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Monday.
In a separate interview with Fox News on Sunday, Witkoff confirmed that discussions regarding the second phase have already commenced and will continue this week. “We’ll be meeting at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of Phase Two successfully,” he stated.
This follows the completion of the sixth prisoner-for-hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel on Saturday, after days of tense negotiations that had threatened to disrupt the fragile ceasefire. As part of the swap, Hamas released three more Israeli hostages, while Israel freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which began on 19 January and is set to last for six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. So far, 19 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals have been freed from Gaza, while Israeli authorities have released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Although talks on the second phase were initially scheduled to begin in early February, there were delays. Hamas stated on 4 February that it had begun discussions with international mediators, while a spokesman for Netanyahu stated on Tuesday that Israel had not yet initiated negotiations for the second phase.
The second phase of the agreement is expected to focus on the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire.
– Additional reporting by Xinhua.
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