Hamas, responding to comments from Israel’s energy minister, Eli Cohen, in which he demanded the Israeli military remains on Gaza’s southern border, said that any Israeli attempt to maintain a buffer zone in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that he has instructed a delegation to depart for Egypt for talks on continuing the ceasefire in the war with Hamas in Gaza, two days before the first stage of the fragile agreement expires.
In a statement on Thursday, Hamas said it was ready to begin talks on the second phase, and that the only way remaining hostages in Gaza would be freed was through “commitment to the ceasefire”.
It is unclear what will happen if stage one expires on Sunday without an agreement on prolonging the first stage, whether the weekly batches of hostage swaps of stage one will continue, or for how long any extension will last.
In stage two of the deal, of uncertain duration, Israel is supposed to completely withdraw its forces from Gaza, in effect ending the war, and talks on future governance of the strip should begin.
