Jerusalem, Feb 17 (IANS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a negotiation team will travel to Cairo on Monday to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to a statement released by his office, Netanyahu said he spoke by phone with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, after which he instructed an Israeli negotiation team to depart for Cairo on Monday.
The team will first discuss the "continuation of the implementation of Phase One of the deal," and will "receive instructions on continuing negotiations regarding the second phase" after a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet scheduled for Monday, the statement said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Witkoff said talks about the second phase have already begun and will continue this week "at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of Phase Two successfully."
On Saturday, Hamas and Israel completed the sixth prisoner-for-hostage exchange following days of tense negotiations that threatened to undo the precarious ceasefire, Xinhua news agency reported.
In the exchange, Hamas released three more Israeli hostages held in Gaza, while Israeli authorities freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, effective since January 19 and spanning six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. So far, 19 Israeli hostages, along with five Thais, have been released from Gaza, while Israeli authorities have released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Hamas were supposed to begin talks on the second phase in early February. Hamas said in a statement on February 4 that it had started discussions with international mediators, whereas a spokesman for Netanyahu said on social media platform X on Tuesday that Israel had not yet begun negotiations on the second phase.
The second phase of the agreement is supposed to focus on the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, and the implementation of a permanent ceasefire.