Israel has approved a US proposal to extend the truce in Gaza through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in mid-April, the office of the Israeli prime minister has said.

A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the proposal from US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

“Israel adopts the plan of the US president’s envoy Steve Witkoff for a temporary truce for the periods of Ramadan” due to end in late March “and Pesach”, the eight-day Jewish Passover to be observed in mid-April, said the statement, released just after midnight (10pm GMT on Saturday).

The first phase of a ceasefire that took effect on January 19 expired on Saturday. 

A second phase of that deal was supposed to secure the release of dozens of hostages still in Gaza and pave the way for a more permanent end to the war.

According to Mr Netanyahu’s office, Witkoff tabled this temporary extension as a stopgap after concluding that Israel and Hamas were at a negotiating impasse and could not immediately agree on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

A statement from the prime minister’s office originally published in Hebrew said: “After a security discussion chaired by Prime Minister Netanyahu and with the participation of the Minister of Defence, senior defence officials, and the negotiating team, it was decided: Israel adopts the outline of the US President’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire for the Ramadan and Passover periods.