Pressure mounts on extending Gaza ceasefire

New details and growing shock over emaciated hostages renewed pressure Sunday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a fragile Gaza ceasefire beyond the first phase ending in three weeks Talks on the second phase meant to see more hostages released and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza were due to start Feb 3 But Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress even as Israeli forces withdrew Sunday from a Gaza corridor in the latest commitment to the truceNetanyahu sent a delegation to Qatar a key mediator but it included lowlevel officials sparking speculation that it wont lead to a breakthrough Netanyahu who returned after a US visit to meet with President Donald Trump is expected to convene security Cabinet ministers on Tuesday Trump himself suggested he was losing patience with the deal after seeing the emaciated hostages released this weekI watched the hostages come back today and they looked like Holocaust survivors They were in horrible condition They were emaciated It looked like many years ago the Holocaust survivors and I dont know how much longer we can take that he told reporters onboard Air Force One as he traveled to the Super Bowl on SundayI know we have a deal where were supposed to get they dribble in and keep dribbling in but they are in really bad shape he said You know at some point were going to lose our patience Families of remaining hostages said time is running out as some survivors described being barefoot and in chains We cannot let the hostages remain there There is no other way I am appealing to the cabinet said Ella Ben Ami daughter of a hostage released Saturday adding she now understands the toll of captivity is much worse than imaginedThe father of a remaining hostage Kobi Ohel told Israels Channel 13 the newly released men said his son Alon and others live off half a pita to a full pita a day These are not human conditions Ohels mother Idit sobbed as she told Channel 12 her son has been chained for over a year Michael Levy said his brother the newly released Or Levy had been barefoot and hungry for 16 months The decisionmakers knew exactly what his condition was and what everyone elses condition was and they did not do enough to bring him back with the urgency that was needed he saidOn Saturday as Israelis reeled former defense minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that the deterioration in hostages conditions was something Israel has known about for some time The ceasefire that began on Jan 19 has held raising hopes that the 16month war that led to seismic shifts in the Middle East may be headed toward an endThe latest step was Israel forces withdrawal from the 4mile 6kilometer Netzarim corridor separating northern and southern Gaza which was used as a military zone No troops were seen in the vicinity Sunday As the ceasefire began last month Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to cross Netzarim and return to the northBut the deal remains fragile On Sunday civil defense first responders in Gaza said Israeli fire killed three people east of Gaza City Israels military noted several hits after firing warning shots and warned Palestinians against approaching its forces Cars piled with belongings headed north Under the deal Israel should allow cars to cross Netzarim uninspected Troops remain along Gazas borders with Israel and EgyptHamas spokesperson Abdel Latif AlQanoua said the troops withdrawal showed the militant group had forced the enemy to submit to our demands and thwarted Netanyahus illusion of achieving total victory Israel has said it wont agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas military and political capabilities are eliminated Hamas says it wont hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troopsDuring the ceasefires 42day first phase Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct 7 2023 attack that sparked the war in exchange for the release of nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid to Gaza Israel has said Hamas confirmed that eight of the 33 are dead Families of the hostages gathered in Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire but he is also under pressure from farright political allies to resume the warThey are dying there so we need to finish this deal in a hurry said Ayala Metzger daughterinlaw of hostage Yoram Metzger who died in captivity Complicating things further is Trumps proposal to relocate the population of Gaza and take ownership of the territory Israel has expressed openness to the idea a revolutionary creative vision Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday while Hamas the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected itEgypt said it will host an emergency Arab summit on Feb 27 to discuss the new and dangerous developments Trumps proposal has moral legal and practical obstacles It may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic to pressure Hamas or an opening gambit in discussions aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia condemned Netanyahus recent comment that Palestinians could create their state there saying it aimed to divert attention from crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to Qatar called Netanyahus comment provocative and a blatant violation of international lawThis 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