Israel sends delegation to Cairo for Gaza talks as ceasefire’s future put in doubt
Egypt says Israeli team meeting with counterparts from US and Qatar on next stages of agreement after Israeli official says troops will remain on Gaza-Egypt border, defying truce
An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for “intensive” talks on the next stages of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, Egypt said Thursday, joining mediators from the US and Qatar hoping to keep the fragile agreement alive as its initial stage draws to a close.
The talks were announced hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it was dispatching negotiators to Cairo and other officials indicated that Jerusalem would seek to maintain the deal albeit without advancing to a second stage which would see Israeli troops withdraw from the Strip.
“The relevant parties have begun intensive talks to discuss the next phases of the truce agreement, amid ongoing efforts to ensure the implementation of the previously agreed understandings,” Egypt’s State Information Service said in a statement.
Negotiators are also discussing ways to “enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid” to the battered Palestinian enclave, it added.
The first phase of the three-phase deal, which has paused fighting in Gaza and freed hostages, is set to officially conclude on Saturday.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered a negotiating team to leave today for Cairo, to continue talks,” the PMO said, without explicitly noting what would be negotiated.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the team would explore “whether we have common ground to negotiate.”
But he signaled that Israel was seeking to extend the first phase, which has left Israeli troops in some areas of Gaza, rather than advance to the second stage; Israeli leaders have rejected going through with the pullout as long as Hamas remains in power, instead threatening to resume fighting.
“We said we are ready to extend the framework [of phase one] in return for the release of more hostages,” Sa’ar said. “If it is possible, we’ll do that. It will be better to speak at length about it after the return of the delegation from Cairo.”
The decision to send the delegation came after Netanyahu held two meetings on Thursday with senior security officials, including Katz, Sa’ar, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, according to Channel 12.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile was asked whether phase two would come to fruition.
“We’ll see what happens. Nobody really knows, but we’ll see what happens,” he said Thursday at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We have some pretty good talks going on.”
Israel said looking to extend phase one
According to Hebrew media reports, the prime minister wants to extend the current first phase of the deal beyond the designated 42 days, which is set to end on March 1, and secure the freedom of more hostages as part of phase one, including more hostages Israel now believes are in poor health.
An Israeli source quoted by Hebrew media said Jerusalem was expecting more hostages to be released on Saturday, though it was unclear if this was based on any actual Hamas concessions.
Hamas early Thursday returned the bodies of the last four hostages it was set to release during the first phase of the truce, while Israel released more than 600 security inmates — more than 100 of whom were serving life sentences or were convicted of murder — in return.
According to the PMO, citing information from the military, hostages Ohad Yahalomi, Tsahi Idan, and Itzik Elgarat were murdered in captivity.
Shlomo Mantzur, the fourth hostage whose body was handed over in the exchange, was killed on October 7, during the Hamas-led invasion, hostage-taking, and massacres that sparked the war, and his body was taken to Gaza, the PMO said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that phase one of the deal “is complete.”
Under the ceasefire outline agreed to by Israel and Hamas, Israel’s remaining living hostages — believed to include 24 people — are to be released during the second stage of the deal. A third stage is also ostensibly planned, during which the bodies of hostages killed on October 7 or in captivity would be released, and the war would end permanently.
Israel not withdrawing from Philadelphi Corridor
An Israeli official sent a statement to reporters Thursday rejecting any withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces troops from the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite the deal’s requirement that it do so by the 50th day of the ceasefire.
Israel contends that the border zone is a major smuggling route that will be used by Hamas to bring more weapons and fortifications into Gaza to rebuild its decimated forces unless it is policed by Israeli troops. Both Hamas and Egypt reject a continued Israeli presence there.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not allow the Hamas murderers to again roam our borders with pickup trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rearm through smuggling,” the Israeli official said.
Israel, with backing from the US, has repeatedly said it will not allow Hamas any role in the future governance of Gaza and that it is prepared to resume fighting to prevent such an outcome. Netanyahu has also refused any role for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
Hamas said Thursday it was ready to begin talks on a second phase, after the exchange of the four hostages for the 602 prisoners and detainees had concluded.
The terror group said the only way remaining hostages in Gaza would be freed is through commitment to the ceasefire.
“We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement and confirm our readiness to enter into negotiations for the second phase of the agreement,” the group said in a statement.
Gantz: PM dragging out phase one for politics
National Unity party head Benny Gantz alleged Thursday, in a video message recording during a tour of Israel’s north, that Netanyahu wants to draw out the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza out of “political interest,” and argued that “extending the deal strengthens Hamas.”
It is in Israel’s national interest “to get as many hostages as possible, as quickly as possible” and not in “trickles,” said Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet.
This is both because the hostages remaining in Gaza are in danger and because “time is working in favor of Hamas, which is arming itself and rehabilitating itself militarily and politically,” he said, appealing to Netanyahu to “stop dragging it out.”
“Bringing everyone home will allow us to deal with Hamas without our hands tied,” he asserted.
The Times of Israel Community.