Ibrahim Sipahi, Esat Firat and Serdar Dincel
02 March 2025•Update: 02 March 2025
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
Israel said Sunday that it agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan and Passover, following a proposal from US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, hours after the first phase of a ceasefire was set to expire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that half of the hostages in Gaza, dead and alive, will be released, and the remaining captives would be freed once a permanent ceasefire is reached.
It said Witkoff proposed extending the ceasefire after determining that additional time was needed for negotiations on a permanent truce.
The statement said the plan gives Israel the right to resume the war after 42 days if talks do not progress, and claimed that Israel has accepted the proposal to free prisoners but Hamas has not yet accepted.
It emphasized that if Hamas changes its position and accepted the plan proposed by Witkoff, Israel would immediately begin negotiations on the details of the second phase.
Hamas, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and Witkoff have yet to comment on Israel's statement.
The Palestinian resistance group’s spokesperson Hazem Qassem reaffirmed earlier in a statement to Anadolu its “commitment to implementing all phases of the agreement.”
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been in place since January, pausing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 48,360 victims, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
