ISRAEL is attending talks on Thursday with the Palestinian group Hamas on moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreed between the two in January, according to Egypt, which is hosting the talks.
But even as the talks get under way, Israeli officials have made it clear they are seeking to change the terms of the agreed-upon three-phase deal, jeopardising its success.
Under the terms of the deal, the first six-week phase – scheduled to end on March 1st – would see the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza’s main population areas, an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza and the return of displaced people to the north of the enclave.
As part of the deal, in return for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention, Hamas has released 33 of the captives – including eight bodies.
The terms of the second phase of the agreement were kept intentionally vague, anticipating that many of the details would be hammered out in future negotiations. Among the terms to be agreed upon were details of a lasting ceasefire to end Israel’s war on Gaza – which has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians – the complete withdrawal of Israel’s forces from the enclave and the release of all remaining captives held by Hamas in exchange for an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.
The third stage of the agreement would focus on the future governance of Gaza and the reconstruction of the destroyed enclave.
On Thursday, a statement provided to reporters by an anonymous Israeli official stated that Israel has decided not to withdraw from the stretch of land it occupies along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite that being part of the previous agreement.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not allow the Hamas murderers to again roam our borders with pick-up trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rearm through smuggling,” the official said.
Satellite images obtained by Al Jazeera earlier this month showed the Israeli military had begun new construction in the area around the border.
Also on Thursday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel’s delegation to the talks in Cairo would “see whether we have common ground to negotiate”.
“We said we are ready to extend the framework [of phase one] in return for the release of more hostages,” Saar told reporters.
Hamas handed over the coffins of the last four of the Israeli captives to be exchanged during the first phase of the deal without ceremony on Wednesday, and Israel later released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.
The release of the prisoners was supposed to take place on Saturday, but Israel delayed the handover in protest against a ceremony held in Gaza when the bodies of four Israeli captives were released last week.