By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Mohammad Sio
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his negotiating team to travel to Egypt on Thursday to continue talks about a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed the news but did not provide details about the topics under discussion.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the decision followed security consultations before the expiry of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement on Saturday.
An Israeli source said early Thursday that the Israeli army will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border. Israel is supposed to withdraw from the corridor on Saturday under the Gaza deal.
Egypt and Hamas have repeatedly dismissed Israeli claims about the presence of underground tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor.
According to KAN, Israel is holding talks with the US to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal for several more weeks.
Israel Hayom newspaper also said that Tel Aviv asked mediators to increase the number of hostages released to agree to extend the ceasefire and allow access to relief materials in Gaza.
The agreement, which took effect on Jan. 19, halted Israel’s destructive war on Gaza that has killed more than 48,360 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.