Hamas said on Thursday it would negotiate the second stage of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, as the first phase runs out this weekend. In a gesture amid ongoing talks, the Palestinian group has released four corpses of hostages for 600 Palestinian prisoners in the last exchange under the present truce agreement.
Negotiations regarding the second phase, under which other hostages would be released in exchange for additional prisoners and a permanent truce, have not yet begun. Following the release of the deceased hostages, Hamas issued a statement asserting that the “only way” Israel can release remaining hostages is through negotiation and adherence to the existing agreement. The group issued a warning that a breakdown from the ceasefire will cause further hardships to the families and the hostages.
In another development, Israel has been reported to have delayed the release of 24 Palestinian prisoners who were to be part of the overnight exchange. They consist of 23 young adults and a female who were arrested during Israeli incursions into Gaza. Israel had promised in the ceasefire agreement to free over 1,000 detainees who did not join the October 7 attack.
The remains of the four murdered hostages have been identified, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has verified the return to Israel of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, and Shlomo Mantzur.
Although next-phase negotiations have yet to be initiated, one report in the Washington Post features a cite indicating there is a standstill in achieving the disarming and exodus of Gaza for Hamas, an integral goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that aims at the dismantling of the group.
Hamas views disarming as mutually exclusive with its very raison d’être of violence against Israel, promising to keep its armed wings but offering to co-share power over Gaza with other Palestinian elements, similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
