Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Agreement Expected to Begin Next Week
Hamas Announces Continued Implementation of Terms as Israel Prepares for Sixth Hostage Exchange
Watan-Tahir al-Nunu, the media advisor to the head of the political bureau of Hamas, announced today (Friday) that negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement will likely begin early next week.
Al-Nunu was quoted by Al-Aqsa TV as saying that Hamas will continue to implement the terms of the agreement, including the exchange of prisoners and detainees, “in the usual manner.”
Regarding the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery into Gaza, Al-Nunu said that Hamas had received promises from mediators to intensify the entry of tents, mobile homes, and heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip.
Hostage Exchange Set for Saturday Amid Ceasefire Tensions
Israel announced that it had received the names of hostages who will be released on Saturday as part of the sixth exchange under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, following mutual threats between the two sides that raised concerns about the resumption of fighting in the Palestinian enclave.
In recent days, there have been mutual threats between Hamas and Israel, creating an atmosphere of doubt about the continuation of the truce in Gaza, which has been devastated by a war that lasted about 15 months.
Under the agreement, the first phase, which lasts 42 days, is supposed to see the sixth exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees take place on Saturday. However, Hamas had announced its delay, accusing Israel of “hindering” the implementation of the agreement, especially by obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, Palestinian sources told Agence France-Presse that the mediators “conducted intensive talks and secured an initial Israeli commitment to implement the terms of the humanitarian protocol,” which would allow the entry of “caravans, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicines, and hospital reconstruction materials” into the Gaza Strip.
Uncertainty Looms Over Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire
However, uncertainty surrounds the future of the agreement, especially since negotiations for its second phase, which is supposed to begin in early March, have not yet started.
According to the terms of the agreement, 33 hostages held in Gaza will be released by the beginning of March in exchange for 1,900 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. So far, 16 Israeli hostages and 765 Palestinian detainees have been released.
Of the 251 people kidnapped in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 73 remain held in Gaza, with 35 confirmed dead, according to the Israeli army.
The second phase of the truce is supposed to see the release of all living hostages and the end of the war. The third and final phase of the agreement will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, a massive project estimated by the United Nations to cost more than $53 billion.
