Israel’s government said early Sunday it supports a proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza through Ramadan and Passover, though Hamas has insisted on negotiating the truce’s second phase instead.
The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came minutes after the first phase ended, and as talks have begun on starting the second phase that’s aimed at ending the war and seeing all remaining living hostages in Gaza returned home.
The statement gives new details on what Israel described as a U.S. 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 ceasefire.
The statement said it was proposed after U.S. 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 ceasefire.”
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, which earlier rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire’s 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 closed-door negotiations.
Officials from Israel and mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on starting the ceasefire’s 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 mediators.
Under the ceasefire deal’s terms, fighting should not resume while negotiations are underway on phase two.
Israel’s 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 phase.
However, "if Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately enter into negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan,” the statement says.
Hamas hands over the first 2 of 6 Israeli hostages
Before Israel's 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 Israel’s proposal to extend the ceasefire for four weeks with a release of hostages every Saturday without officially entering negotiations on the second phase.
The Egyptian official said the U.S. 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 terms.
The first phase, which paused 15 months of fighting in Gaza, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people returned home to northern Gaza, aid into the territory increased and Israeli forces withdrew to buffer zones.
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostage. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 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 children.
According to Israel, 32 of the 59 hostages still in Gaza are dead.
The two sides agreed to the three-phase 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 deal.
Hamas 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 phase.
Other challenges complicate the ceasefire’s 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 Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by Hamas’ main rival, Fatah.
Hamas leader Mohamed Darwish on Saturday reiterated the group is willing to hand over power to a Palestinian national consensus government or an Egypt-proposed body of technocrats not aligned with Hamas or Fatah. His comments came in an open letter to next week’s summit of Arab leaders in Cairo. Hamas has dismissed Israel’s suggestion that its leadership go into exile.
Ramadan in Gaza
In Gaza's southern city of Rafah, AP video showed a long table set for the breaking of the day's Ramadan fast, snaking through the ruins and lit by strings of lights as the sky darkened.
War-weary Palestinians marked the first day of the holy month with fasting and more worries.
"Today there is a lot of goodness, but there is no money,” said Huda Matar about the skyrocketing prices, even though more food and other staples are available compared with last year.
“May God have mercy on us and restore reconstruction quickly,” said Rafah resident Fatima Abu Helal.
Netanyahu's office said last week that mediators were “also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region.”
The U.N. food agency said on social media it reached 1 million Palestinians across Gaza during the deal’s first phase.
“The ceasefire must hold,” the World Food Program said. “There can be no going back.”
New video of hostages
Hamas published video footage Saturday showing a group of hostages, including two brothers embracing before one of them was released from Gaza.
Hamas to release 6 Israeli hostages as Israel frees 600 Palestinians
The video, filmed under duress, was likely taken before Feb. 15, when Iair Horn was released and left his brother, Eitan, behind. The faces of what appear to be other hostages are blurred.
“I am very happy that my brother will be released tomorrow, but this is not logical in any way to separate families,” Eitan says. “Sign the second and third phase. enough of war.”
___ Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.