Israel has decided to adopt the US’s proposal for a temporary ceasefire spanning the Ramadan and Passover period, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday night.
This comes shortly after the end of a four-hour security meeting commandeered by Prime Minister Netanyahu, which coincided with the official end of the Gaza ceasefire deal at midnight.
On the first day of the framework, proposed by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, half of the living hostages and the remains of deceased hostages will be released.
At the end of the framework—if an agreement is reached for a permanent ceasefire—the remaining living and deceased hostages will be released, the PMO added.
The statement noted that Hamas has “so far remained firm in its refusal of this framework.”
However, the PMO added that should Hamas change its position, “Israel will immediately enter negotiations on all details of Witkoff’s framework.”
Current negotiations stalled
Fighting will resume after the 42nd day (1 March) according to the existing agreement, if Hamas does not agree on the new framework and other negotiations are ineffective, the PMO added.
The PMO said that this clause was supported by a side letter from the previous US administration and was also endorsed by the Trump administration.
Witkoff proposal for an extension of the ceasefire followed assessments that, at this stage, “there is no possibility of bridging the gaps between the parties’ positions to end the war and that additional time is needed for negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.”
This comes after The Jerusalem Post reported earlier on Saturday that no progress has been made in the ceasefire talks in Cairo, and Israel is reaching a dead end.
This article was originally published by a www.jpost.com . Read the Original article here. .