GAZA CITY, Feb 4 (Bernama-AA) – The Palestinian group Hamas confirmed on Tuesday that negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement have started, Anadolu Agency reported.
“The second-phase negotiations and contacts have started, and we are focused on shelter, relief, and rebuilding for our people in Gaza,” group spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement.
He accused Israel of “delaying the implementation of humanitarian protocols in the ceasefire agreement and stalling its execution.”
“Shelter and humanitarian aid are urgent priorities that cannot be subject to Israeli delays,” he added.
Qanoua stressed that rebuilding hospitals, repairing roads, and restoring water wells are essential to reviving life in Gaza after the extensive destruction caused by the Israeli war.
Israel said early on Tuesday that it will send a negotiating team to Qatar this weekend for talks on the second phase of the Gaza deal.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the team will discuss “technical details related to continuing to carry out” the agreement.
The announcement came after a meeting between Netanyahu and US special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in Washington during which they discussed the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement were scheduled to start on Monday, but Netanyahu decided not to send his negotiators to Doha until after his meeting with Trump later on Tuesday.
The first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan 19, halting Israel’s war, which killed more than 47,500 people and left the enclave in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.
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