Israel evades second phase of Gaza deal, talks about temporary ceasefire in return

However, Hamas confirmed on Friday its commitment to implementing all the terms of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the prisoner exchange at the end of the first phase. The movement called on mediators to pressure Israel to enter “immediately” into the second phase.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended on Saturday evening, while negotiations for the second phase were supposed to begin on the 16th day of the first phase of the agreement (February 3).

Netanyahu obstructed this, as he wanted to extend the first phase of the exchange deal to release the largest possible number of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, without providing any compensation for that or completing the dues imposed on it in the agreement during the past period.

Hamas rejects this, and demands that the occupation be bound by what is stipulated in the ceasefire agreement, and calls on the mediators to immediately begin negotiations for the second phase, which includes an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a complete cessation of the war.

On January 19, a ceasefire agreement began in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. It includes three stages, each lasting 42 days. During the first, negotiations are held to start the second and third, with the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the support of the United States.

With American support, the Israeli occupation forces committed genocide in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, leaving more than 160,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

Source: Yemen Youth Net + Agencies