No progress in talks with Israel on 2nd phase: Hamas

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 would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said.

Phase has expired, 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’ political bureau, said 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 on Saturday as expected, and Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might resume.

Hamas said it rejected Israel's ‘formulation’ of extending the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, on the day the first stage of the deal was set to expire.

Israel has said Hamas cannot be involved in governing Gaza after the war. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has also ruled out any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by Hamas’ main rival, Fatah.

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