The US backed Israel’s violation of the ceasefire agreement by not releasing Palestinian prisoners. Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, also announced that he would be traveling to the region in the coming days to extend the first phase of the ceasefire. These developments were interpreted as \u201ca green light from the US to Israel, which wants to continue its attacks on Gaza instead of moving to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Brian Hughes made a statement regarding Israel\u2019s suspension of the release of Palestinian prisoners. Describing Israel\u2019s decision as \u201cappropriate,\u201d Hughes said that President Donald Trump is ready to support Tel Aviv \u201cin whatever action it chooses to take regarding Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Mahmoud Merdawi, one of the Hamas leaders, stated on his social media account that Hamas will not hold any talks with Israel through mediators (Egypt, Qatar) at any stage before the release of the Palestinians who were agreed to be released in exchange for six Israeli prisoners. The Hamas official stated that the mediators should \u201cforce Israel to honor the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamas Political Bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said that Israel\u2019s decision to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners was \u201can indication of its policy of avoiding its promises and stalling the process.\u201d Rishq stated that Israel\u2019s justification that \u201cthe handover ceremony is humiliating\u201d does not reflect the truth.<\/p>\n
Although Hamas released six Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip as part of the seventh round of prisoner swaps, Israel announced that it had suspended the release of Palestinian prisoners. In a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office, it was reported that the release of Palestinian prisoners was suspended on the grounds that they were \u201cused for ceremonies and propaganda purposes that humiliate Israeli prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the statement, it was announced that \u201c602 Palestinian prisoners\u201d will not be released until it is guaranteed that other Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip will be handed over and the handover will take place without ceremony.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said yesterday that he would visit the region in the coming days to extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which expires on 1 March.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to extend the first phase, so I will probably go to the region on Wednesday and negotiate that,\u201d Witkoff said in an interview with CBS following his statement to CNN, adding that he would visit Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
While the Netanyahu government avoided negotiations, let alone the second phase, with this statement, the Trump administration publicized for the first time its goal of extending the first phase. Although Witkoff spoke of his desire to implement the second phase of the agreement, he and other US officials have become more vocal about Israel\u2019s right to continue the war.<\/p>\n
Witkoff said, \u201cWe hope to have enough time to begin the second phase and to complete it so that more hostages can be released. We will reach the second phase… I think this will happen,\u201d Witkoff said.<\/p>\n
The second phase envisions Hamas releasing all surviving hostages in exchange for several thousand Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.<\/p>\n
The agreement allows for an extension of the first phase on the condition that the parties continue negotiations on the terms of the second phase. However, Israel has postponed the start of these negotiations. This is because Netanyahu\u2019s far-right coalition partners are threatening to overthrow the government if the war does not continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US backed Israel’s violation of the ceasefire agreement by not releasing Palestinian prisoners. Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, also announced that he would be traveling to the region in the coming days to extend the first phase of the ceasefire. These developments were interpreted as \u201ca green light from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7042,4048,319,7039,7041,1334,294,503,4832,812,4556,2796,816,5621,5977,4121,7040,5331,821,3262,2325],"class_list":["post-8015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middleeast","tag-brian-hughes","tag-ceasefire-agreement","tag-donald-trump","tag-egyptian-mediation","tag-far-right-coalition","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-headline","tag-hostage-release","tag-israel","tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict","tag-middle-east-conflict","tag-netanyahu","tag-palestinian-prisoners","tag-peace-negotiations","tag-prisoner-swap","tag-qatari-mediation","tag-steve-witkoff","tag-us","tag-war-in-gaza","tag-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\n