The United States is looking to secure an “extension” of the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as the two sides work with mediators to finalize the next stage of the deal.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which was implemented in late January, was set to last for six weeks; that time frame will expire at the beginning of March. Negotiators built in the flexibility to extend the first phase of the deal instead of letting it lapse if the second phase had not been agreed upon at the end of the six-week period.
“We have to get an extension of phase one,” Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy, said on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.
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“So I’ll be going into the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that,” he added. “And we’re hopeful that we have the proper time to begin phase two and finish it off and get more hostages released and move the discussion forward.”
As a part of phase one, Hamas agreed to release 33 of the roughly 100 hostages it was still holding from the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. In exchange, Israel agreed to release more than 1,500 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, agreed to withdraw its forces from populated areas of Gaza, and allow a surge of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory.
Phase two of the deal broadly calls for the end of all hostilities, Hamas’s permanent removal from governing Gaza, and the release of all remaining living Israeli hostages by Hamas.
In a subsequent interview on Face the Nation, Witkoff said he believes Hamas has to leave Gaza “physically,” but did not specify where they would go.
The Israeli government has taken exception to the way Hamas has handed over the hostages to the Red Cross, often crowding the vans carrying them and parading them in front of cameras.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office said on Sunday that Israel is delaying the delivery of 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”
Earlier this week, Hamas handed over the bodies of the Bibas children, the two youngest hostages. The group said it would also hand over the body of their mother, Shiri Bibas, but the body they gave to the Red Cross was not her; the group later handed over a second body, that was confirmed to be her.
Both the U.S. and Israel have said it would not be acceptable for Hamas to have a role governing Gaza once the war concludes, though it’s unclear who could fill the current void if not the U.S.-designated terrorist entity.
“I would say at this point for sure, for sure, they can’t be any part of governance in Gaza,” Witkoff added.
Trump has floated the idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Arab countries while the U.S. would lead a reconstruction effort of the besieged strip. Witkoff, who traveled to Gaza in late January, described it as “uninhabitable,” and predicted the reconstruction effort could take 10-15 years.
The Arab world was united in its condemnation for any plan that includes the removal of Palestinians from Gaza. The administration has said that Palestinians would not be allowed to return, but also has said the opposite.
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Arab leaders from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Arab nations met on Friday in Riyadh to formulate an alternative plan. There is a subsequent larger summit to further those discussions set for March 4.
Israel’s military campaign decimated the Gaza Strip, as well as Hamas’s ranks and senior leaders. The death toll of the conflict is believed to be higher than 45,000 people, about half of which were believed to be civilians.