Israel confirmed on Sunday that its negotiators are holding talks with Egyptian mediators regarding the hostage matter, as disagreements with Hamas persist to slow efforts to extend the tenuous truce in Gaza.
The first ceasefire, negotiated by Qatar, Egypt, and America, came into force on January 19, halting more than 15 months of fighting that started following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Although the initial stage had ended in early March, hostilities have not resumed in full or a consensus reached on the next steps toward sustaining the ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli delegation was in Egypt to negotiate with top officials over the hostages. This came after Netanyahu instructed Israeli negotiators to negotiate on the basis of a plan by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The plan, according to reports, involved the release of 11 surviving hostages and half of the dead hostages.
Witkoff subsequently explained to CNN that his “bridge proposal” was the release of five living hostages, such as Israeli-American Edan Alexander, for a “substantial number” of Palestinian inmates being detained in Israeli prisons. He added that Hamas had issued “an unacceptable response” and threatened that “the opportunity is closing fast.”
A Hamas official, who was not named, said the group had “fruitful discussions” with Egyptian intermediaries and called on Israel to apply the ceasefire’s humanitarian aspects, such as its immediate access of aid to Gaza.
At the same time, Israeli air raids in Beit Lahiya killed a minimum of nine individuals, including three Palestinian journalists, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported. The Israeli military claimed to have targeted militants who were flying drones and later confirmed six of the dead as militants, including one suspected of taking part in the October 7 attack.