Israel said that he would send a delegation to Qatar on Monday “in order to advance negotiations” around the ceasefire in Gaza, while Hamas, a terrorist organization designated by the United States, reported “positive signals” in talks with Egyptian mediators and Qatari on the start of negotiations on the second phase of car.
The declaration of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no detail to say that she had “accepted the invitation of mediators supported by the United States”. Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, also gave no details. Discussions on the second phase should have started a month ago.
There was no immediate comment from the White House, which made the surprise confirmation on Wednesday of the United States direct talks with Hamas.
During last week, Israel pressed Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in exchange for an extension of the first phase, which ended last weekend, and a promise to negotiate a sustainable truce. Hamas would have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.
Israel last weekend cut all the supplies in Gaza and its more than 2 million people when she pressed Hamas to agree. Hamas said this decision would also affect the remaining hostages.
The ceasefire interrupted the deadliest and most destructive fights between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the terrorist attack led by Hamas against South Israel on October 7, 2023. The first phase enabled the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli forces have withdrew to buffer areas inside Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to northern Gaza for the first time in war, and hundreds of aid trucks entered per day until Israel suspends supplies.
Before their weekly rally in Tel Aviv, Relatives of hostages called on US President Donald Trump, who met eight old hostages on Wednesday.
“Mr. President, a return to war means a death sentence for the living hostages left. Please, sir, do not allow Netanyahu to sacrifice them.”
Muslim countries reject the move of Palestinians
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Muslim Nations rejected Trump's calls to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population on Saturday and supported a plan for an administrative committee to govern the territory to allow reconstruction.
Foreign Ministers met in Saudi Arabia for a special session of the Islamic Cooperation Organization to approach the situation in Gaza. OCI has 57 nations with largely Muslim populations.
They supported a Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt and supported by the Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Without mentioning Trump, the Declaration of Ministers said that he had rejected “plans to move the Palestinian people individually or collectively … As ethnic cleansing, a serious violation of international law and a crime against humanity”.
They also condemned the “famine policies” they said they aim to push the Palestinians to leave, a reference to the Israel Cup to all the supplies in Gaza.
Trump called for the resettlement of the population of Gaza elsewhere, so that the United States can resume the territory and develop it for others. The Palestinians rejected the calls to leave.
The ministers of the OIC collection supported a proposal that an administrative committee replaces Hamas by governing Gaza. The committee would work “under the aegis” of the Palestinian authority, based in occupied West Bank. Israel rejected the AP having a role in Gaza but did not offer an alternative for the post-war rule.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom have declared in a joint declaration that they welcome the Arab initiative for a Gaza reconstruction plan, appealing “a realistic path”. They added that “Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel”, and they support the central role of the AP.
Israeli strikes continue
Early on Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah, said the Ministry of Health. The Israeli army said that it had struck several men who seemed to pilot a drone who entered Israel.
The military offensive of Israel killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many deaths were combatants. Israel says that around 18,000 Hamas terrorists.
The attack on Hamas in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, inside Israel and took 251 people hostage. Most were released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.
