Israel supports US proposal to extend Gaza ceasefire's first phase

Israels government said early Sunday it supports a proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza through Ramzan and Passover though Hamas has insisted on negotiating the truces second phase insteadThe statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office came minutes after the first phase ended and as talks have begun on starting the second phase thats aimed at ending the war and seeing all remaining living hostages in Gaza returned homeThe statement gives new details on what Israel described as a US proposal A ceasefire extension through Passover or April 20 On the first day half the hostages alive and dead would be released The rest would be released if agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefireThe statement said it was proposed after US envoy Steve Witkoff got the impression that at this stage there was no possibility of bridging the positions of the parties to end the war and that more time was needed for talks on a permanent ceasefireThere was no immediate comment from Hamas which earlier rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefires first phase by 42 days doubling its length saying it goes against the truce agreement according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss the closeddoor negotiationsOfficials from Israel and mediators Qatar Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on starting the ceasefires second phase in Cairo But Basem Naim a member of Hamas political bureau told The Associated Press there had been no progress before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday Hamas did not attend but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediatorsUnder the ceasefire deals terms fighting should not resume while negotiations are underway on phase twoIsraels new statement says it can return to fighting if it believes that the negotiations are ineffective and it noted Hamas refusal to accept the proposal for an extension of the first phaseHowever if Hamas changes its position Israel will immediately enter into negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan the statement saysBefore Israels new statement an Egyptian official involved in the talks spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations The official said Hamas Qatar and Egypt wanted to continue with the existing ceasefire deal and they rejected Israels proposal to extend the ceasefire for four weeks with a release of hostages every Saturday without officially entering negotiations on the second phaseThe Egyptian official said the US wants to start negotiations on the second phase but called for hostage releases during the negotiations Hamas insisted on a full implementation of the ceasefire termsThe first phase which paused 15 months of fighting in Gaza saw the release of 33 hostages including eight bodies in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners Hundreds of thousands of people returned home to northern Gaza aid into the territory increased and Israeli forces withdrew to buffer zonesHamas started the war with its Oct 7 2023 attack that left 1200 dead in Israel mostly civilians and took some 250 hostage Since then Israels military offensive has killed more than 48000 Palestinians according to Gaza health officials who do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say more than half the dead have been women and childrenAccording to Israel 32 of the 59 hostages still in Gaza are deadThe two sides agreed to the threephase ceasefire deal in January Talks on the second phase were meant to start the first week of February Israelis rallied Saturday night to urge their government to continue the dealHamas has reaffirmed its full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details and called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately proceed to the second phaseOther challenges complicate the ceasefires future Israel has said Hamas cannot be involved in governing Gaza after the war Netanyahu has also ruled out any role in Gaza for the Westernbacked Palestinian Authority dominated by Hamas main rival FatahHamas leader Mohamed Darwish on Saturday reiterated the group is willing to hand over power to a Palestinian national consensus government or an Egyptproposed body of technocrats not aligned with Hamas or Fatah His comments came in an open letter to next weeks summit of Arab leaders in Cairo Hamas has dismissed Israels suggestion that its leadership go into exileThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever