Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum during a Feb. 16 visit to Jerusalem by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Saar confirmed Friday that Israel had dispatched a delegation to talks in Egypt to explore whether there was sufficient common ground to negotiate an extension to a cease-fire deal with Hamas. File Photo by Jack Guez/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 28 (UPI) — Negotiations to extend a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas were underway Friday in Cairo, after Israeli and Qatari delegations traveled to the Egyptian capital.
The indirect talks on a planned second phase of the initial six-week cease-fire due to expire early Sunday were also being attended by representatives from the United States, Egypt’s State Information Service said Thursday night in a news release.
“The parties involved have commenced intensive discussions on the subsequent phases of the truce agreement amid ongoing efforts to ensure the implementation of the agreed-upon understandings.
“Mediators are also exploring ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza as part of broader efforts to alleviate civilian suffering and support regional stability,” SIS added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed Israel had dispatched a team to Egypt to explore whether there was sufficient common ground to negotiate an extension to the deal.
However, he indicated the preferred option for the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to maintain the current cease-fire to allow more hostages releases, and push back phase two that would see an Israeli military pullout from Gaza.
“We said we are ready to extend the framework [of phase one] in return for the release of more hostages. If it’s possible, we’ll do that,” Saar told a news conference Thursday but refused to be drawn further on the question saying he would be able to say more after the Israeli delegation got back from Cairo.
Netanyahu is said to be eager to keep the current first phase in place to secure the release of more hostages sooner rather than later, particularly those believed to be in poor health, accor