March 1, 2025 (EIRNS)—The Israeli delegation walked out of the Cairo negotiations on Phase 2 of the Gaza ceasefire yesterday. The walkout came after Hamas rejected the Israeli gambit of trying to extend Phase 1 rather than negotiating Phase 2.
“There are no negotiations with the movement regarding the second phase so far,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement to Al-Arabi TV. “The occupation bears full responsibility for not starting the second-phase negotiations of the Gaza agreement, which was supposed to begin on the 16th day after the ceasefire came into effect.”
“The occupation’s talk of extending the first phase aims to recover its captives while potentially resuming aggression on the Gaza Strip—contrary to the agreement’s text,” the statement continues. “The occupation evades its commitment to ending the war and fully withdrawing from Gaza. Extending the first phase in the form proposed by the occupation is unacceptable to us. Mediators and guarantor states must compel the occupation to adhere to the agreement in all its stages. The occupation is trying to reset matters to square one by shuffling the cards with its proposal to extend the first phase.”
