There is “limited” progress in the current negotiations to prolong the hostage-ceasefire deal and secure the release of more hostages, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
This follows Hamas's announcement that it has agreed to extend the ceasefire for two months and will release additional living hostages, as reported by Saudi news outlet channel Al-Hadath on Saturday night, after the terrorist organization met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, in Cairo.Hamas also mentioned that other topics were discussed at the meeting but did not specify what they were.
Israel to send delegation to Doha
On Saturday night, the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel accepted the invitation of the mediators backed by the US and will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the hostage negotiations.The delegation will be led by “M.” from the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), who is the former deputy of the agency’s chief, Ronen Bar.The team will include the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Persons Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch; Netanyahu’s diplomatic adviser, Ophir Falk; and professional teams from the Mossad and the IDF.The PMO also denied rumors that there would be a temporary Ramadan ceasefire.A senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that meetings between Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler in recent days focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the terrorist group in Gaza.Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the leader of the Palestinian group, confirmed the unprecedented, direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital over the past week.“Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dual-nationality prisoners. We have dealt positively and flexibly, in a way that serves the interests of the Palestinian people,” Nono said.He added that the two sides had also discussed how to see through the implementation of the phased agreement aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas War.“We informed the American delegation that we don’t oppose the release of the prisoner within the framework of these talks,” Nono said.Boehler told CNN on Sunday that the talks were “very helpful” and, in an interview with Channel 12, he said the Trump administration was focused on getting all the remaining 59 hostages out and ending the war.“I think you’ve got a real chance for some movement and seeing some hostages home in the next few weeks,” he said.Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday that they were preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend the initial 42-day truce that began in January.A Hamas delegation met in the past two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire. Israel also said it was sending negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House last week that gaining the release of Edan Alexander, the 21-year-old man from New Jersey believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a “top priority for us.”Alexander served as a soldier with the IDF. Boehler said the aim was that his release, along with bodies of four deceased American-Israeli hostages, would lead to more captives being freed.The discussions between Boehler and Hamas have broken with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.Under the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on January 19, Hamas has so far exchanged 33 Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners and detainees and has also freed five Thai hostages.On Sunday, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said he had instructed the Israel Electric Corporation not to sell electricity to Gaza, in what he described as a means of pressure on Hamas to free hostages.The measure would have little immediate impact, as Israel already cut supply to Gaza at the start of the war. It would, however, affect a wastewater treatment plant supplied with power, according to the Israeli electricity company.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.