Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Under Discussion, Confirms Hamas- wna24

New Delhi: Hamas officials say they’ve begun talks with international mediators over the second phase of the ceasefire while claiming Israel hasn’t abided by some of the terms of the first phase.

Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, a spokesperson for the militant group, said Tuesday that it had started “communications and negotiations” over the next phase, which is expected to include further hostage releases and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The group also claimed in a statement Tuesday that Israel had delayed and obstructed the flow of aid into the enclave.

“What has been implemented in these aspects is much less than what was agreed on,” Hazem Qassam, the group’s spokesperson, said in a statement.

Negotiations of the ceasefire’s second phase were set to begin Monday. Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday that he would send a delegation to Qatar this weekend to continue negotiations.

Netanyahu is in Washington, where he met with Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday and was set to meet Trump on Tuesday.

The second phase is expected to be more difficult to negotiate than the first phase agreement. Israel has said it won’t agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capabilities are eliminated. 

Hamas says it won’t hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops from the territory.   

The Palestinian Authority says it has formed a committee to manage reconstruction and recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip.

It was unclear if the committee would be able to operate inside Gaza. Hamas, though weakened, still controls most of the territory, and Israel has ruled out any role for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in postwar Gaza.

The office of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said that during a weekly Cabinet meeting Tuesday officials set up a working group “to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip.” The committee would work to provide basic services like water, electricity, health and education, specifically in the southern Gaza Strip, with the help of “various partners,” the statement said, without elaborating.

A Palestinian official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the working group would be made up of technocrats, including independent figures from Gaza.

Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006, drove the Palestinian Authority’s forces from Gaza the following year in a week of street battles.

The Biden administration had called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to govern postwar Gaza with Arab support ahead of eventual statehood. But the Israeli government, which is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, rejected those proposals.

It’s unclear where the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fits into Trump’s plans for the region.

Many Israelis and Palestinians alike view the authority as corrupt and incompetent, but it is widely seen as the only political alternative to Hamas. Palestinian Authority representatives are currently staffing Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, alongside European Union observers.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says the country will host 15 Palestinian prisoners who were released and deported as part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

The Turkish intelligence organization, MIT, is taking steps to “facilitate” the arrival of the 15 Palestinians from Egypt, the Anadolu Agency said Tuesday.

Arrangements were made to ensure the Palestinians can live “peacefully and securely” in Turkey, Anadolu said.

The news agency did not name the Palestinians that Ankara was preparing to take in. Those who were deported have been convicted of serious crimes.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Sunday that Turkey was prepared to support the Palestinian people, including providing medical treatment for those wounded in the conflict and taking in released prisoners who would be deported from the region.

Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hosted several Hamas officials over the years.