Palestinian children pose for a picture on the debris of a building as families gather for a group Iftar meal, the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily fast at sunset, in Gaza City on March 6, 2025, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Agence France-Presse
THE PHILIPPINES DAILY INQUIRER | Published March 9, 2025
CAIRO — Hamas said on Saturday that there were “positive” signs regarding the start of negotiations for the second phase of the fragile Gaza ceasefire, as a delegation from the Palestinian militant group met with mediators in Cairo.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would send a delegation to Doha on Monday for truce talks.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said in a statement that “efforts of the Egyptian and Qatari mediators are ongoing to complete the implementation of the ceasefire agreement”.
“The indicators are positive regarding the start of negotiations for the second phase,” he added, without providing further details.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had accepted an invitation from US-backed mediators and would “send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations”.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire ended on March 1 after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, though widespread hostilities have not resumed.
While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.
On Saturday, a high-level Hamas delegation held talks with Egyptian officials over the second phase of the ceasefire. The truce has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.
In the statement, Al-Qanoua spoke of the “necessity of obligating the mediators to ensure Israel implements the agreement,” adding that: “Hamas affirms its readiness to begin negotiations for the second phase to meet the demands of our Palestinian people.”
Under the first phase, Gaza militants handed over 25 living hostages and eight bodies in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Of the 251 captives taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, 58 remain in the Palestinian territory, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.
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SOURCE: www.globalnation.inquirer.net
RELATED: Israel to send negotiators to Doha to advance Gaza ceasefire talks
AL JAZEERA | Published March 9, 2025
Israel says it will send a delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday to advance the Gaza ceasefire and captive exchange talks.
Hamas says there are “positive indicators” for the start of talks on the ceasefire’s second phase.
Israeli forces kill two people and wound more than a dozen in attacks across Gaza, as settlers attack and wounded Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank.
Four European nations and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation have endorsed an Egypt-led $53bn plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed 48,453 Palestinian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, with 111,860 people wounded. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying that thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and more than 200 taken captive.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
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