THE TIMES OF ISRAEL | Published March 1, 2025
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 today, but under the deal’s terms, fighting should not resume while negotiations are underway for phase two, which could end the war in Gaza, see Israeli troops withdraw and see the remaining living hostages returned home. According to the IDF, at least 35 of the 59 hostages still in Gaza are confirmed dead.
Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo on Thursday. Hamas did not attend, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, tells The Associated Press there had been “no progress” before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday.
Naim says he had “no idea” when negotiations might resume.
Until Thursday, Israel had been largely refusing to even hold negotiations regarding the terms of phase two, which were supposed to have started nearly one month ago.
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SOURCE: www.timesofisrael.com
RELATED: Hamas says there’s been ‘no progress’ on second ceasefire phase in indirect talks with Israel
The U.N. food agency, the World Food Program, said in a post on social media on Saturday that it reached 1 million Palestinians across Gaza during the deal’s first phase. “The ceasefire must hold,” it said. “There can be no going back.”
Copyright Abdel Kareem Hana/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved.
EURONEWS | Published March 1, 2025
Talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have made no progress so far and it is unclear whether they would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said.
The first phase of the ceasefire paused fifteen months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and saw the release of 33 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Phase one expires on Saturday. However, under the terms of the deal between Israel and Hamas, fighting is not to resume while negotiations on the second phase – which could end the war and return remaining hostages home.
Negotiations on the second phase have been taking place in Cairo, with Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian and US officials working to bring an end to the war.
Hamas did not attend the walks, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ politicial bureau, said there had been “no progress” on finding a solution before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday.
Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might start again.
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7 2023 attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say that more than half the dead have been women and children.
Both sides of the conflict agreed to the three-phase ceasefire deal in January, with the aim of bringing an end to the war.
