The Israeli Prime Minister's office has confirmed that Israel will adopt a proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, put forward by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East. This follows a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was reached on January 17, 2025, and came into effect two days later.
There are three phases to the deal to allow both sides to work gradually towards a complete halt to fighting and the announcement to adopt the temporary ceasfire came in the early hours of Sunday, March 2 just hours after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire was set to expire.
The plan by Steve Witkoff was for an extension lasting for the periods of Ramadan and Passover. Ramadan started on Friday, February 28 and is usually between 29 and 30 days, while the Jewish holiday of Passover is shorter but this year finishes on Sunday, April 20.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on the first day of Witkoff's proposal, half of the hostages being held in Gaza, both alive and dead, will be released, he also added the remaining hostages will be released after a permanent ceasefire was agreed.
"According to the agreement, Israel can return to fighting after the 42nd day if it feels that the negotiations are ineffective," Netanyahu's office also said, accusing Hamas of violating the deal. Both sides have been trading accusations of violating the deal.
Two Palestinian officials told Reuters that Israel refused to enter phase two of the agreement or start negotiations about it. Instead, they said that Israel requested an extension of the first phase, conditioned on the handover of a number of hostages and bodies for each week of the extension.
Hamas however, Reuters reported, rejected this and insisted on sticking to the original agreement and entering into the second phase, as was previously agreed.
On Saturday, Hamas's armed wing posted a video showing Israeli hostages still in its custody in Gaza and said that the remaining hostages can only be freed through a swap deal as stated in the phased ceasefire agreement that began on January 19. Talks about the ceasefire have been ongoing, most recently in Cairo, but have not yet led to an agreement.
