Israel-Hamas Negotiations Begin as Truce Threatens to Unravel

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began in Cairo Thursday amid mounting concerns the truce will collapse.

Thursday’s talks in Egypt’s capital came on the day that a well-informed Israeli source revealed that “Israel does not intend” to withdraw from a strategic corridor in Gaza in the coming days.

Under the terms of the deal, Israel was due to start pulling its soldiers out of the Philadelphi Corridor, an 8.6-mile-wide (14 kilometers) strip of land by Gaza’s border with Egypt, on Saturday.

The unnamed Israeli official said on Thursday that the Jewish nation’s army would remain there to prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas, despite objections from Hamas and Egypt.

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, suggested Israel’s military presence remains necessary there as he recently saw smuggling tunnels there. However, Egypt claims it destroyed such tunnels years ago and that it has prevented smuggling through a military buffer zone.

Hamas has said any Israeli attempt to stay in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of a ceasefire agreement, which took hold in January.

However, both sides still showed readiness to adhere to other terms of the ceasefire, with Hamas releasing the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners.

DOZENS REMAINING

According to Israel, there are 59 remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive.

At Thursday’s talks, officials from Israel, Qatar, and the United States started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt‘s state information service said.

Observers said it would be difficult to reconcile a deal with the war objectives of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called for dismantling Hamas’ governing and military capabilities.

Despite suffering heavy losses in the war, Hamas has still emerged as a force during the ceasefire, and the group says it will not give up its weapons.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit the region in the coming days.

He seeks to help end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, including many Hamas fighters as well as civilians used as human shields by the group, officials say.

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