Phase two of the ceasefire agreement was planned to begin on Feb. 3, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to hold off until after he spoke with President Trump. After his Feb. 2-8 visit to Washington—and with the prodding of Steve Witkoff—Netanyahu finally approved the Israeli delegation to go to Qatar to commence the talks with Hamas. However, Netanyahu gave the delegation no mandate to negotiate, leading many to conclude that he is planning to sabotage the agreement.
Haaretz reports this on Feb. 9, quoting one source as saying: “It’s a show. Netanyahu is signaling quite clearly that he doesn’t want to move to the next phase. He’s sending a team without a mandate and without the ability to do anything.” The delegation is only cleared to discuss “technical details.”
Another source warned that Netanyahu’s conduct could jeopardize even phase one of the deal. “The process is working, hostages are being released, but Hamas is doing this with the expectation of a second stage, leading to a [full] cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Once Hamas realizes there won’t be a second stage, they may not complete the first,” the source said. “Hamas isn’t stupid. They see the politicization of the negotiations, the appointment of Netanyahu loyalists Ron Dermer and Gal Hirsch” as opposed to the heads of Shin Bet and the Mossad who led the previous negotiations, “and the statements from [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and other right-wing ministers threatening to topple the government. They’ll understand where this is headed.”
