By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began in Cairo Thursday amid mounting concerns the truce will collapse.
Thursday’s talks in Egypt’s capital came on the day that a well-informed Israeli source revealed that “Israel does not intend” to withdraw from a strategic corridor in Gaza in the coming days.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel was due to start pulling its soldiers out of the Philadelphi Corridor, an 8.6-mile-wide (14 kilometers) strip of land by Gaza’s border with Egypt, on Saturday.
The unnamed Israeli official said on Thursday that the Jewish nation’s army would remain there to prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas, despite objections from Hamas and Egypt.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, suggested Israel’s military presence remains necessary there as he recently saw smuggling tunnels there. However, Egypt claims it destroyed such tunnels years ago and that it has prevented smuggling through a military buffer zone.
Hamas has said any Israeli attempt to stay in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of a ceasefire agreement, which took hold in January.
However, both sides still showed readiness to adhere to other terms of the ceasefire, with Hamas releasing the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners.
DOZENS REMAINING
According to Israel, there are 59 remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive.
At Thursday’s talks, officials from Israel, Qatar, and the United States started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt‘s state information service said.
Observers said it would be difficult to reconcile a deal with the war objectives of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called for dismantling Hamas’ governing and military capabilities.
Despite suffering heavy losses in the war, Hamas has still emerged as a force during the ceasefire, and the group says it will not give up its weapons.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit the region in the coming days.
He seeks to help end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, including many Hamas fighters as well as civilians used as human shields by the group, officials say.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Hamas has formally rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal, criticizing it as a “partial” deal that fails to guarantee a complete end to the war or a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The United States may abandon efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine within days if no clear progress is made, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on April 18. Speaking after talks in Paris with European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio said President Trump is prepared to “move on” from the negotiations in the absence of any clear signs of progress.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced a Christian man to death on Good Friday on controversial charges of blasphemy against Islam, Christians told Worthy News.
Christians across autocratically-ruled Nicaragua “are celebrating Holy Week” leading up to Easter under the watchful eye of police and paramilitary forces, Christians told Worthy News on Good Friday.
Italy’s rightwing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says U.S. President Donald J. Trump has accepted her invitation for an official trip to Rome at a time when the third largest economy in the European Union tries to bridge differences between the EU and the U.S. over trade and security.
An area near Italy’s southern city of Naples plunged into mourning early Friday after authorities confirmed that at least four people died and one was seriously injured when a cable car crashed to the ground.
Hamas is facing a crippling cash crisis in Gaza, struggling to pay its fighters and government workers amid intensified Israeli pressure.