Israel and Hamas indicated on Saturday that preparations for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations were underway, as mediators pushed to extend the fragile 42-day truce that began in January.
Hamas announced that there were “positive indicators” for the start of the second-phase talks, although details were not disclosed. Israel also confirmed its readiness for negotiations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announcing that Israel would send a delegation to Doha on Monday, as invited by U.S.-backed mediators, to advance the talks.
Hamas is currently engaged in ceasefire discussions in Cairo with Egyptian mediators, alongside officials from Qatar. These talks aim to move towards the next stage of the ceasefire deal, which could potentially pave the way for a more lasting end to the war.
“We are ready to engage in second-phase negotiations that meet the needs of our people, and we call for increased efforts to support Gaza and lift the blockade on the suffering population,” said Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua.
In a separate development, Hamas expressed approval of the formation of an administrative committee made up of "national and independent" figures to govern Gaza until elections can be held. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi previously stated that Cairo had cooperated with Palestinian leaders to create such a committee to oversee Gaza's governance post-conflict.
Despite the ongoing diplomacy, tensions remained high, with Israeli airstrikes killing two Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Saturday. The Israeli military said the strikes targeted a drone that crossed into Gaza from Israel, hitting several individuals involved in a suspected smuggling attempt. This strike followed an Israeli drone attack on Friday, which killed two people in northern Gaza.
The ceasefire deal, which began in January, calls for the release of the remaining 59 hostages held by Hamas in the next phase of negotiations, along with final discussions aimed at ending the war. The first phase of the ceasefire concluded last week, but Israel imposed a total blockade on all goods entering Gaza, demanding the release of hostages before further negotiations.
Since the truce began on January 19, Hamas has freed 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli authorities believe that fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
The ongoing conflict, which erupted after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has claimed more than 48,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza health authorities. The violence has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire population and has led to accusations of genocide and war crimes against Israel, which it denies.
As the ceasefire talks progress, the situation in Gaza remains fragile, with both sides and their respective mediators working to avert further escalation.
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Bangladesh has signed a deal to import 700,000 tonnes of wheat annually from the United States over the next five years, aiming to ease trade tensions and secure tariff relief from the Trump administration, officials confirmed on Sunday.
Iran and the E3, Britain, France, and Germany, may hold nuclear talks next week, Tasnim reported, amid European warnings that failure to resume negotiations could trigger renewed international sanctions.
Iran has replaced air defence systems damaged during last month’s conflict with Israel, according to a report by Iran’s Defah Press news agency on Sunday, citing Mahmoud Mousavi, Deputy for Operations of the regular army.
A tsunami warning was issued on Sunday after a sequence of strong earthquakes, including a powerful 7.4-magnitude tremor, struck off the Pacific coast of Russia, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
Israeli researchers have unveiled an artificial intelligence tool that can determine a person’s true biological age from tiny DNA samples with remarkable precision.
Germany's export slump since 2021 is largely driven by deep-rooted competitiveness issues, the Bundesbank warned in its latest report, calling for urgent structural reforms.
Two Harry Potter actresses, Emma Watson and Zoe Wanamaker, have each received a six-month driving ban after separate speeding offences, both sentenced on the same day at a Buckinghamshire court.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s foreign ministers met in Tianjin on 15 July, laying the groundwork for the upcoming SCO summit set for the end of August.
The opening ceremony of the 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum, held under the theme “Digital Pathways: Strengthening Information and Media Resilience in the Age of AI,” is currently underway.
On July 19, Ukrainian media provided extensive coverage of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speech and responses to journalists’ questions during the 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum, held in Khankendi under the theme “Digital Pathways".
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 56 kilometres east of Gorgan in northern Iran early Sunday morning, according to preliminary seismic data.
President Ilham Aliyev has publicly pressed Russia to admit it accidentally shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane in December, an incident that killed 38 people.
Iran says its cooperation with the IAEA will continue — but under new terms and stricter oversight, following what it calls politically motivated reporting by the agency.
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