By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, WAFAA SHURAFA and NATALIE MELZER, Associated Press
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began Thursday in the Egyptian capital, Egypt said, averting a collapse of the agreement ahead of Saturday’s expiration of the first phase.
Officials from Israel, Qatar and the United States started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire accord’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt‘s state information service said in a statement.
“The mediators are also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region,” it said.
Phase 2 talks are meant to negotiate an end to the war, including the return of all remaining hostages in Gaza and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the territory.
It will be difficult to reconcile a deal with the war objectives of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called for dismantling Hamas’ governing and military capabilities. After suffering heavy losses in the war, Hamas has nonetheless emerged intact during the ceasefire, and the group says it will not give up its weapons.
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Hours before talks began, an Israeli official said the country would not withdraw from a strategic corridor in the Gaza Strip as called for under the ceasefire, a refusal that could severely complicate negotiations with Hamas and key mediator Egypt at a sensitive moment for the fragile truce.
Overnight, Hamas released the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned swap of the ceasefire’s first phase.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, was expected in the region in the coming days.
‘Blatant violation’
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the army needed to remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, to prevent weapons smuggling.
Separately, Defense Minister Israel Katz said at a meeting with local leaders that he had seen tunnels penetrating the border on a recent visit to the corridor, without providing evidence or elaborating on Israel’s plans. Egypt says it destroyed the smuggling tunnels from its side years ago and set up a military buffer zone to halt smuggling.
Hamas said any Israeli attempt to maintain a buffer zone in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement. The group says that sticking to the agreement is the only way for Israel to secure the release of dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor on Saturday, the last day of the first phase, and complete it within eight days. There was no immediate comment about the corridor from Egypt, which is opposed to any Israeli presence on the Gaza side of its border.
Remains of 4 hostages identified
The remains released Thursday were confirmed to be those of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives.
Mantzur, 85, was killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war, and his body was taken into the territory. Israel said the other three were killed in captivity, without elaborating.
“Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing that they will be laid to rest in dignity in Israel.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the “immense pain” of the family and loved ones of Yahalomi, who had French citizenship.
Hamas confirmed that over 600 prisoners had been released overnight. Most were detainees returned to Gaza, where they had been rounded up after the Oct. 7 attack and held without charge on security suspicions.
Israel releases dozens of women and teenagers
Dozens of Palestinian teenagers as well as women detained by Israel in Gaza were released Thursday back to hugs and tears from their loved ones.
The teenagers looked gaunt and skinny as they disembarked from Red Cross buses in the southern town of Khan Younis. Many fell into the arms of relatives, who spent days waiting for them after Israel held up their release last weekend to protest what it called cruel treatment of hostages by Hamas during their releases. Women cried and hugged the boys.
The Palestinian prisoners club, a group representing current and former prisoners, said those released into Gaza Thursday were 44 male teenagers aged 15-19 and two women.
In a separate prisoner release overnight, some fell to their knees in gratitude after disembarking in Khan Younis. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, dozens of prisoners were welcomed by crowds of relatives and well-wishers.
Israel had delayed the release of the prisoners on Saturday over Hamas’ practice of parading hostages before crowds and cameras during their release. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The prisoners released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages. Only around 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round, while dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis were exiled.
Truce in peril
The latest handover was the final one planned under the ceasefire’s first six-week phase, which expires this weekend. Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
But it’s unclear how Israel would destroy Hamas without resuming the war, and Hamas is unlikely to release the remaining hostages — its main bargaining chips — without a lasting ceasefire.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
If the identities of the four bodies are confirmed, then 59 captives will remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly 150 have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals, while dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces and eight captives have been rescued alive.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say over half the dead have been women and children.
The fighting displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system.
At least 8 wounded in suspected car attack in Israel
In northern Israel, police said a driver rammed his car into people at a highway bus stop, wounding at least eight Thursday in what authorities believe was a militant attack.
Police said they had “neutralized” the suspect, who they described as a 53-year-old Palestinian from the northern West Bank who lived in Israel and was married to an Israeli citizen.
Medical workers said the ramming injured at least eight people, two in serious condition, who they evacuated to the hospital.
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Melzer from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.
