02/20/2025February 20, 2025
Hamas accuses Netanyahu of ‘procrastinating’ over second phase of Gaza truce
A Hamas spokesperson accused Israeli of “procrastinating” on negotiations for the second phase of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
“The second phase negotiations have not practically begun, and we are ready to engage in them as stipulated in the agreement,” spokesperson Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said in a statement. “Netanyahu is procrastinating regarding the second phase”.
After more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas after the militant group’s October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, a
Since then, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. On Thursday, the remains of four hostages were returned to Israel. This weekend, six more living captives are set to be released.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said talks would begin this week on the ceasefire’s second phase, aiming to lay out a more permanent end to the war.
Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during phase two.
Hamas and its allies killed about 1,200 people in their October 2023 attacks and took about 250 more captive. Prior to Thursday’s handover, there were 70 hostages in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
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