Trump’s Middle East envoy spoke to mediators Qatar and Egypt to discuss the details of the second phase of the Gaza truce.
Steve Witkoff, the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, has revealed that negotiations surrounding the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and captives-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas would continue this week.
During a Fox News interview on Sunday, Witkoff said the talks would be held “at a location to be determined”.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s regional representative also shared that he had held “very productive and constructive” calls with mediators Egypt and Qatar, through Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Witkoff discussed with regional brokers “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand where we are today”.
Witkoff’s comments come as he embarks on a regional tour from February 13-18, visiting Qatar, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, an Israeli delegation is set to travel to Cairo on Monday as the Israeli security cabinet discusses the second phase of the deal.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his regional tour in Israel, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel’s goals in Gaza.
The two agreed that Hamas “must be eradicated” and supported Trump’s controversial suggestions of ethnic cleansing to reshape the region’s future. Rubio is set to visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Ministry has claimed it received a shipment of 900kg of MK-84 munitions from Washington, raising concerns about the fragile ceasefire truce between Israel and Hamas.
Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. have been working to uphold the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was announced on January 15, aiming to end Israel’s 15-month-long military offensive in Gaza.
The first phase of the truce began on January 19 and is scheduled to last 42 days. Talks for the second phase were initially planned to start 16 days after the agreement took effect. However, these discussions have faced nearly a two-week delay.
Phase two will see the return of all Israeli captives from Hamas as well as the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.
The truce’s first phase of three entails the release of 33 captives in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians detainees.
Hamas released three more Israeli captives on Saturday in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners, marking the sixth captives-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.
So far, 19 Israeli captives in addition to five Thai workers have been released by Hamas since the start of phase one.
At least 1,135 Palestinian prisoners have been freed from Israeli detention centres in six separate batches, many of who were facing one or multiple life sentences.
Israel has killed at least 61,709 Palestinians in the Strip, with thousands of others still believed to be trapped under the rubble, according to figures by Gaza’s Government Media Office.
