Burak Dag and Merve Berker
16 March 2025•Update: 16 March 2025
JERUSALEM/ANKARA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with a delegation that returned from Qatar to discuss ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, his office said Saturday.
At the end of the meeting that included ministers and security officials, Netanyahu ordered preparations for negotiations under a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s Special Mideast Envoy, Steve Witkoff, which includes the immediate release of 11 Israeli hostages and the remains of half of the deceased captives, according to a statement.
Israeli media previously reported that Witkoff presented a new proposal during ceasefire talks in Doha.
Israel’s state broadcaster KAN noted that Witkoff suggested extending the ceasefire for 60 days in exchange for the release of 10 hostages.
Israel claimed to have accepted the plan, but Hamas rejected the proposal, leading to a halt in the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Hamas insists that, under the three-phase ceasefire agreement reached between the parties, negotiations must proceed to the second phase, which includes a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance group urged mediators, the UN and relevant parties to "assume their political and legal responsibilities” to prevent crimes that Israel has been committing in Gaza and stop it “from continuing its aggression."
The first six-week phase of the deal ended March 2 following several prisoners-for-hostages exchanges. Israel has refused to proceed to the second phase, which will lead to a permanent end to the war.
More than 48,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has left the enclave in ruins.
