US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff plans to return to the region in coming days to work out a way to either extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson has said.
"Special Envoy Witkoff plans to return to the region in the coming days to work out either a way to extend Phase I or advance to Phase II," the spokesperson said on Monday.
"The President has made clear and Secretary Rubio has repeatedly said all the hostages must be released immediately, and that includes American hostages."
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas earlier called on mediators to intervene to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement and start negotiations for the second phase of the deal.
In a televised speech, senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging efforts to start negotiations for a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
"We call on the international community and the UN to work to compel the occupation to return to the agreement and enter (talks for) its second phase, leading to a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces, relief and shelter for our people, and the reconstruction of what the occupation has destroyed," he said.
Israeli carnage
Israel has killed over 48,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its carnage in the blockaded enclave so far.
The onslaught, which left the enclave in ruins, was paused under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on January 19.
Israel, however, halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Palestine’s Gaza on Sunday, hours after the expiry of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence 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.
