Senior Israeli official denies report talks have begun on 2nd phase of Gaza deal: ‘We are still in the first phase’

By Lazar Berman

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

15 October 2025, 2:46 pm

2 Edit

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Palestinians walk past a destroyed building at a makeshift market in the Nuseirat refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

A senior Israeli official denies a report in The Wall Street Journal that Israel and Hamas have begun negotiating the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

“We are still in the first phase,” says the official. “We will talk about the second phase when we complete the first one.”

The official adds that there are mid-level Israeli officials in Sharm el-Sheikh, but they are there to discuss the return of the remaining slain hostages and the full implementation of phase one.