Gaza ceasefire deal: Israel wants to extend 1st phase by 6 weeks

An Israeli delegation in Cairo aims to negotiate to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal by an additional 42 days, two Egyptian security sources said yesterday.

Hamas opposes the extension and insists on proceeding to the second phase of the deal as originally agreed, the sources told Reuters. The second phase is meant to include steps leading to a permanent end to the war.

The first phase of the ceasefire is set to end today, and the warring parties have yet to clarify what will happen if no agreement is reached by then. Egypt and Qatar are mediating the talks, with US support.

In a statement yesterday, the Palestinian group urged the international community to press Israel to immediately enter the second phase without any delay.

Two Israeli government officials had told Reuters that Israel was seeking to extend the initial phase, with Hamas freeing three hostages each week in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel's military said yesterday it had killed a Hezbollah weapons smuggler in a strike on eastern Lebanon a day earlier, the latest attack since a November ceasefire halted the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Lebanon's health ministry on Thursday reported one death and one injury in a strike on a vehicle in Hermel, the area the Israeli military said it had targeted, reports AFP.

In a statement, the military said the Israeli air force "conducted an intelligence-based strike in the area of Hermel and eliminated the terrorist Mohammed Mahdi Ali Shaheen... who had been coordinating terrorist transactions for the purchase of weapons".

It added that the slain militant had "recently been involved in transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon".

His actions, according to the military statement, "posed a threat to the State of Israel and constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon" that ended the war with Hezbollah.

A Lebanese lawmaker for Hezbollah, Ihab Hamadeh, condemned the strike on the group's Telegram channel, saying it had targeted "innocent civilians".

The November 27 truce agreement ended more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of all-out war during which Israel sent in ground troops.