From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 2, 2025
PM: Israel is fully coordinated with Trump on proposal to extend 1st phase of ceasefire
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel is “fully coordinated with President Trump and his staff” on the proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas for another 50 days, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Last night, Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released.
Netanyahu says that Witkoff proposed the extension after he understood there was no way to bridge Israeli and Hamas positions on moving to the second phase of the deal.
“He even defined his proposal as a corridor for negotiations on phase two,” says the prime minister. “Israel is ready for this.”
If Hamas agrees to the extension, Israel will immediately enter into talks, says Netanyahu. “If Hamas thinks that it will be possible to continue the ceasefire, or to enjoy the conditions of phase one, without us receiving hostages – it is very mistaken,” he warns.
As his office did last night, Netanyahu offers a veiled threat that Israel is permitted to return to fighting in Gaza “if it is convinced that the negotiations are ineffective,” and that a US letter affirms this claim.
“Despite this, we agreed to the Witkoff outline because we are committed to returning our hostages,” says Netanyahu, adding that Israeli still assesses that Hamas is holding 59 hostages — up to 24 alive, and at least 35 dead.
On Israel’s decision to halt aid moving into Gaza, Netanyahu says that “Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods sent to the Gaza Strip. It is abusing the Gazan population who are trying to receive the aid, it is shooting at them, and is turning humanitarian aid into a terrorist budget directed against us.”
He threatens “additional consequences” if Hamas doesn’t release more hostages, but doesn’t lay them out.
The Times of Israel Community.