Uncertainty looms as first phase of Gaza truce due to expire

GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES — The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce is drawing to a close on Saturday, but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive.

The ceasefire took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country's history.

Over the initial six-week phase, Gaza militants freed 25 living hostages and returned the bodies of eight others to Israel, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

A second phase of the fragile truce was supposed to secure the release of dozens of hostages still in Gaza and pave the way for a more permanent end to the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sent a delegation to Cairo, and mediator Egypt said "intensive talks" on the second phase had begun with the presence of delegations from Israel as well as fellow mediators Qatar and the United States.

But by early Saturday, there was no sign of consensus, and Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the group rejected "the extension of the first phase in the formulation proposed by the occupation [Israel]".

He called on mediators "to oblige the occupation to abide by the agreement in its various stages".

Max Rodenbeck, of the International Crisis Group think tank, said the second phase cannot be expected to start immediately.

"But I think the ceasefire probably won't collapse also," he said.