by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed a negotiation team to “travel to Cairo for talks Thursday evening.” Israeli officials are hopeful to secure the release of additional hostages by as early as Saturday, although “discussions have not yet commenced” and the timeline is still uncertain.
The delegation to Cairo, led by Hostages and Missing Coordinator Gal Hirsch, includes Netanyahu’s political advisor Ophir Falk, and other IDF and Shin Bet representatives.
Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua announced Thursday morning the organization’s “commitment to all agreement terms and readiness to begin negotiations on the second phase of the hostage deal.”
He spoke to the Qatari channel Al Arabi, stating that Hamas is prepared to either extend the first phase of the hostage agreement or merge both phases, adhering to Hamas’ self-defined red lines in negotiations with Israel.
al-Qanua also claimed that the first phase of the agreement has been completed and emphasized Hamas’ adherence to all conditions “despite Israel’s continuous delaying tactics.” As the first phase of the hostage deal nears completion, including the final release of deceased hostages, this sets the stage for the next phase of negotiations.
An Israeli official stated Thursday that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor—a buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border—on the 42nd day of the hostage deal, despite Qatar and Egypt-brokered agreements calling for an IDF pullout.
“We will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not permit Hamas murderers to return with pickup trucks and rifles on our borders, and we will not allow them to rebuild their arsenal through smuggling operations,” a Israeli security source told Times of Israel.
However, as long as Israel maintains its presence in the corridor negotiations for the second phase of the hostage release agreement are likely to stall.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The United States is rapidly approaching another historic fiscal milestone, with the national debt now nearing $40 trillion as Washington continues running massive annual deficits and interest costs consume a growing share of federal spending.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner met senior Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday as the Trump administration intensified efforts to move Gaza toward disarmament and postwar governance, even as Israel continued targeted strikes against terrorist operatives inside the Gaza Strip.
A third red heifer has been born in Israel this season, giving rabbis three candidates now being examined as part of renewed efforts connected to the biblical purification rites required for Temple service.
A highly unusual midsummer storm swept across parts of Israel on Saturday, August 15, bringing heavy rain to Jerusalem, shattering August rainfall records near the capital, and sending floodwaters through a Judean Desert stream in what meteorologists described as an unprecedented summer event.
France’s Constitutional Council has upheld the core provisions of a sweeping new law establishing a legal right to assisted dying, clearing one of the final major obstacles to euthanasia and assisted suicide in a nation long shaped by Catholic tradition.
Scores of people have been killed after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores Island early Saturday, authorities said, as rescuers struggled to reach some of the hardest-hit areas, while a less powerful tremor was reported in North Sumatra province.
Five people were injured, one critically, in a shooting involving multiple gunmen at Virginia State University early Saturday, authorities said, a day after six people, including a suspected shooter, died in separate shootings in Michigan.