Hamas says there's been 'no progress' on second ceasefire phase in indirect talks with Israel

CAIRO (AP) — The latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has made no progress so far, and it was unclear whether the talks would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said.

The first phase of the ceasefire, which paused 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Phase one expires on Saturday, but under the terms of the deal, fighting is not to resume while negotiations are underway on the second phase, which could end the war in Gaza and see the remaining living hostages returned home.

Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo, with the goal of bringing an end to the war with the return of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Hamas did not attend the talks, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told The Associated Press there had been “no progress” on finding a solution before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday.

It was unclear whether those mediators were going to return to Cairo to resume talks on Saturday as has been expected, and Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might start again.

Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7 2023 attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say that more than half the dead have been women and children.

The two sides agreed to the three-phase ceasefire deal in January, with the aim of bringing an end to the war.

On Friday, Hamas said that it “reaffirms its full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details” and called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately proceed to the second phase without any delay or evasion.”

In addition to phase two of the ceasefire, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that mediators in the talks were “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.”

Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first phase by 42 days, saying it goes against the truce agreement, according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

The Israeli proposal calls for extending the ceasefire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday, in return for an additional hostage exchange, the Hamas member said.

The U.N. food agency, the World Food Program, said in a post on social media on Saturday that it reached 1 million Palestinians across Gaza during the deal’s first phase.

The pause in fighting helped “restoring distribution points, reopening bakeries, and expanding cash assistance,” the agency said.

“The ceasefire must hold,” it said. “There can be no going back.”

___ Rising reported from Bangkok