On the 37th day of the ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli broadcasting authority quotes cabinet members as saying that Netanyahu intends to extend the first phase of the deal without moving to the second one in light of halting the release of the seventh batch of the Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli government has reportedly postponed the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, despite a recent prisoner swap with Hamas.
According to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to delay the release of the seventh group of Palestinian prisoners, citing the need for further consultations “based on the goal of returning all of our hostages – the living and the dead.”
Meanwhile, the US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff announced that he would visit the region this week in order to mull the concerns of Gaza ceasefire.
In an interview with CNN, Witkoff said he would visit the region to hold more talks on Gaza ceasefire, hoping that there would be time to discuss the second phase implementation.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to the Middle East on Wednesday to discuss with ‘Israel’, Qatar and Egypt the possibility of extending the first phase of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Axios website mentioned.
According to Axios, the heads of the security services told Netanyahu in the meeting that they recommend making every effort to exhaust the negotiations on the second phase of the deal or on extending its first phase, Israeli officials said.
“Witkoff met on Saturday in Miami with Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, who is leading the Israeli negotiations team. It was the second meeting between the pair in 48 hours to discuss the second phase of the hostage deal.”
Witkoff told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that his five-day trip will include stops in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
