Hamas Officials Say 'Ready' for Negotiations on Phase Two of Gaza Truce

Palestinians make their way among the rubble of destroyed buildings amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, on Al-Rashid road, Gaza City, 02 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians make their way among the rubble of destroyed buildings amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, on Al-Rashid road, Gaza City, 02 February 2025. (EPA)
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Hamas Officials Say 'Ready' for Negotiations on Phase Two of Gaza Truce

Palestinians make their way among the rubble of destroyed buildings amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, on Al-Rashid road, Gaza City, 02 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians make their way among the rubble of destroyed buildings amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, on Al-Rashid road, Gaza City, 02 February 2025. (EPA)

Hamas is ready to begin talks on the details of a second phase of the ongoing truce in Gaza, two officials from the Palestinian group told AFP on Monday.

"Hamas has informed the mediators, during ongoing communications and meetings held with Egyptian mediators last week in Cairo, that we are ready to start the negotiations for the second phase," one official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

"We call on the mediators to ensure that the occupation adheres to the agreement and does not stall," they added.

A second official said the group was "waiting for the mediators to initiate the next round".

Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel -- the first phase of which came into effect on January 19 -- indirect talks to hammer out the details of phase two were due to start Monday.

The 42-day phase one revolves around the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 prisoners, most of them Palestinian, being held in Israeli jails.

The second phase is expected to cover the release of the remaining hostages and include discussions on a more permanent end to the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said he will begin discussions about the second phase with US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday.

The Israeli premier is currently in Washington, and is due to meet Trump on Tuesday.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”