The latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has made “no progress,” and it’s unclear whether they will resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said.
Phase one expires on Saturday, but under the deal’s terms, fighting should not resume while negotiations are underway on phase two, which could end the war in Gaza, see Israeli troops withdraw and see the remaining living hostages returned home. According to Israel, 32 of the 59 hostages still in Gaza are dead.
The first phase, which paused 15 months of fighting in Gaza, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people returned home to northern Gaza, aid into the territory increased and Israeli forces withdrew to buffer zones.
Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo. Hamas did not attend, 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 returned home on Friday.
It was unclear whether those mediators would return to Cairo to resume talks Saturday as expected. Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might resume.
The war was sparked by an Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and saw some 250 taken into Gaza, according to Israel tallies. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials.
The two sides agreed to the three-phase ceasefire deal in January. Israelis rallied Saturday night to urge their government to continue the deal.
Hamas has reaffirmed its “full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details” and called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately proceed to the second phase.
Gaza City resident Abu Ahmed Abu Mustafa says he and others decided to decorate this year in what was previously known as the ‘colourful neighbourhood’ to mark the first Ramadan since the war was paused.
Other challenges complicate the ceasefire’s future. Israel has said Hamas cannot be involved in governing Gaza after the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has been issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes over the Gaza war — has also ruled out any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by Hamas’s main rival, Fatah.
Hamas leader Mohamed Darwish on Saturday reiterated the group is willing to hand over power to a Palestinian national consensus government or an Egypt-proposed body of technocrats not aligned with Hamas or Fatah. His comments came in an open letter to next week’s summit of Arab leaders in Cairo. Hamas has dismissed Israel’s suggestion that its leadership go into exile.
Hamas also rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first phase by 42 days, doubling its length, saying it goes against the truce agreement, according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
The Israeli proposal calls for extending the ceasefire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Saturday, in return for an additional hostage exchange, the Hamas member said.
Ramadan in Gaza
In Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, hundreds came together for the breaking of the day’s Ramadan fast, snaking through the ruins and lit by strings of lights as the sky darkened.
The iftar marked a bittersweet moment for war-weary Palestinians.
“We needed something like this” Abu Adi told CBC News. “This is proof that we the Palestinians are united and we won’t let go of anything.
“We came back to rubble … but God willing with our fingers and hands we will rebuild.”
Ali Subh told CBC that the iftar was an important way for the community to show their “steadfastness” to their land, especially after months of families being separated by the war, but added that they were filled with both happiness and sadness.
“Happiness to be back but sadness that we found our homes destroyed,” Subh said. “God willing we will stay here.”
