date_range
Tuesday 25 Feb 2025
LOCAL EDITION
close
LOCAL EDITION
Israeli troops walk behind a tank in the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees, in the occupied West Bank during a military invasion on February 24, 2025. (Photo/AFP)
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen has set four conditions for starting negotiations on the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner-captive swap deal.
"Israel has four conditions before moving to the second phase," Cohen, a member of Israel's Security Cabinet, told the public broadcaster KAN on Monday.
He said these conditions include the return of Israeli captives, the removal of Hamas from Gaza, the disarmament of the enclave, and Israel's security control of the territory.
The first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal took effect on January 19, halting Israel's genocidal war that has killed more than 62,000 people and left the enclave in ruins.
The negotiations on the second phase of the agreement were scheduled to start in early February, but hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been procrastinating about starting the talks.
The second phase of the Gaza deal includes Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza and ending the war, along with prisoner swaps.
On Saturday, Israel delayed the release of 620 Palestinian abductees from its jails in exchange for six Israeli captives and four bodies released by Hamas, citing what it called "degrading handover ceremonies."
West Bank annexation
Cohen also reiterated support for Israel's annexation of the occupied West Bank.
"This move is possible, realistic and right," he claimed.
The Israeli army has been attacking Palestinians northern West Bank since last month, killing at least 60 people and displacing thousands.
The attacks were the latest in Israel's ongoing military escalation in the occupied West Bank where at least 923 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 wounded in attacks by the Israeli military and illegal Zionist settlers since Israel's war on Gaza.
The International Court of Justice declared in July that Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
___
Source: TRT
