The second phase of the ceasefire involves the return of the remaining detainees, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a cessation of hostilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and claimed Hamas has “put forward positions for a permanent ceasefire that are totally unacceptable.”
In a recorded speech released by his office, Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for “unwavering support” for Israel and reiterated that he was “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
“He has shown it through his visionary plan for Gaza, this is a plan which Israel fully supports. He’s shown it by sending us all the munitions that were being held up. This way he is giving Israel the tools we need to finish the job against Iran’s terror axis,” Netanyahu continued. “And he has shown it by fully backing Israel and putting the pressure to release the hostages where it truly belongs – on Hamas.”
Extended by 50 Days
Israel has accepted Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff’s plan “to extend the temporary ceasefire by 50 days,” he said, adding that “during that time we can discuss the conditions for a permanent ceasefire that will end the war in Gaza.”
Hamas said Netanyahu’s “approval of American proposals to extend the first phase of the agreement under arrangements that contradict the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, is a blatant attempt to evade the agreement and avoid entering negotiations for its second phase.”
I want to thank @POTUS @realDonaldTrump for his unwavering support for Israel.
During my recent visit to Washington, I said that Donald Trump is the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.
And President Trump shows that friendship each and every day. pic.twitter.com/zEG6RZh5Cr
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 2, 2025
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, was scheduled to last for 42 days and ended on Saturday. During this phase, Hamas and other resistance groups released 33 Israeli captives, including eight deceased, while Israel released around 1,700 Palestinian detainees, out of the 1,900 initially agreed upon.
The second phase of the ceasefire involves the return of the remaining detainees, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a cessation of hostilities. Hamas has stated its readiness to return all prisoners at once during this phase.
Netanyahu said in his announcement that under Witkoff’s plan, “half of the hostages would be released right away and the remaining half would be released if we reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire.”
Starvation Tactics
The Israeli leader also acknowledged the use of starvation tactics against the enclave’s population to pressure Hamas, saying “Israel has decided to stop letting goods and supplies into Gaza, something we’ve done for the past 42 days.”
He claimed that Hamas “steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaza from getting them.”
Israel is dragging out Phase II of the Gaza ceasefire — the stage that would end the war and see its forces withdraw.
Read the latest analysis by Robert Inlakesh on The Palestine Chronicle:
https://t.co/fM3XkT6Vty
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 2, 2025
Hamas said Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid “is a cheap act of blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant violation of the agreement.” The movement called on mediators and the international community “to pressure the occupation to stop its punitive and immoral measures against more than two million people in Gaza.”
Israel “will take further steps if Hamas continues to hold our hostages,” Netanyahu stated. “And throughout this, Israel knows America and President Trump have our back.”
He had earlier said at his weekly cabinet meeting that Witkoff proposed the plan after it was concluded that there was no immediate prospect of bridging the gap between Israel and Hamas on the second phase of the Gaza deal, the Anadolu news agency reported.
He said more time was needed to reach a possible agreement, describing his proposal as a “pathway for negotiations” on the next stage.
Netanyahu’s Position Contradicted
Contradicting Netanyahu’s position, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel expressed his support for advancing to the second phase of the agreement, Anadolu reported.
“I support the second phase; there is no greater commandment than redeeming prisoners,” Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Arbel as saying during a conference in Eilat in southern Israel, according to Anadolu.
Netanyahu had sought to extend the initial exchange phase to secure the release of as many Israeli captives as possible without offering anything in return or fulfilling the military and humanitarian obligations of the agreement.
Hamas has refused to proceed under these conditions, insisting that Israel abide by the terms of the ceasefire and immediately start negotiations for the second phase, which includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete halt to the war.
Netanyahu’s Claims ‘Baseless’
“The war criminal Netanyahu is trying to impose political realities on the ground that his fascist army has failed to establish over fifteen months of brutal genocide, thanks to the steadfastness and courage of our people and their resistance,” the Resistance group said.
It added that he seeks “to overturn the signed agreement for his narrow internal political interests, at the expense of the occupation’s captives in Gaza and their lives.”
The monster Netanyahu
announces a full blockade on Gaza
“No free lunches….as of this morning all goods & supplies into Gaza
will be prevented.”
Collective punishment & starvation as a weapon of genocide.
Expel Israel
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) March 2, 2025
Israel’s claims that the movement has violated the ceasefire agreement “are baseless and misleading, serving only to cover up its own daily and systematic violations,” Hamas stated.
“Furthermore, we reaffirm that Netanyahu and his government’s actions are in clear violation of Article 14 of the agreement, which states that all procedures of the first phase will continue into the second phase, and that the guarantors will make every effort to ensure that negotiations proceed until an agreement is reached on the conditions for implementing the second phase,” the group’s statement added.
Plea to Mediators
Hamas called on the US administration “to cease its bias and alignment with the fascist schemes of war criminal Netanyahu, which target our people and their very existence on their land.”
It affirmed that “all plans and projects that bypass our people’s rights to their land, self-determination, and liberation from occupation are doomed to failure and defeat.”
Israel’s military assault on Gaza that began in October 2023 has killed over 48,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 111,000.
(PC, Anadolu)
PM Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Katz, Mr. Smotrich, Mr. Bem Gvir, Mr
Herzog… It is time to accept and respect the right to exist, of the Palestinian people in their land, as same as the Israeli people, have their rights to exist in their territory.
That beside Israeli people, there is/are also other groups of people, two other major religious faiths originate, from the holy land, where beside the Israeli civil society, also christian and muslim Palestinians exist as other groups of of people and to be proud of a country, diverse societies, living in co-existence and in the culture rich territory of the “Holy Land” with Christian, Muslim and Jewish as 3 Major religious faiths, from Israel/Palestine