Netanyahu officially decides to start negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza agreement with Hamas under tough conditions
The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to officially begin talks on the second phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement next week, on condition that the Gaza Strip is demilitarized and Hamas is removed.
The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, “The Prime Minister decided to officially begin talks on the second stage and informed all ministers of the Security Cabinet of this”.
The Israeli condition for advancing to the second stage is disarming the Gaza Strip and removing Hamas.
According to the authority, Israel will at the same time try to extend the release of its prisoners in the first phase of the deal and try to release more of them.
The Netanyahu government continued to obstruct the start of negotiations for the second phase, which was supposed to begin on the sixteenth day of the agreement’s entry into force, and which reached its thirty-first day on Tuesday.
Israel will begin the second phase of talks in coordination with the United States, when Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, arrives in Israel in the coming days.
The Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, who is close to Netanyahu, will lead the second phase negotiations.
Netanyahu decided to exclude Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar from the negotiating team, according to the same source.
For its part, Hamas announced on Tuesday evening its rejection of disarming the resistance or removing it from Gaza, stressing that any arrangements for the future of the Strip would be based on Palestinian national consensus.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement that “the occupation’s condition of removing Hamas from the Gaza Strip is a ridiculous psychological war”.
He added, “The exit of the resistance from Gaza or its disarmament is unacceptable”.
He stressed that “any arrangements for the future of the Gaza Strip will be through national consensus”.
Qassem said “This Saturday, we will witness one of the achievements of the Palestinian people, which is the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and long sentences from Israeli prisons”.
Hamas announced on Tuesday its intention to hand over the bodies of 4 Israeli prisoners next Thursday, and 6 living prisoners next Saturday, on the condition that Tel Aviv releases the Palestinian prisoners it meets on Saturday.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 73 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, and it detains thousands of Palestinians in its prisons, subjecting them to torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has led to the deaths of many of them, according to Palestinian and Israeli media and human rights reports.
Qassem added, “We’re politically and on the ground ready to implement the provisions of the second and third phases of the agreement”.
He continued, “We’re ready for a second phase in which the prisoners will be exchanged in one go within the criterion of reaching an agreement that leads to a permanent ceasefire and a complete (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip”.
He stated that doubling the number of prisoners to be released was done in response to a request from the mediators, and to prove our seriousness in implementing all the terms of the agreement.
