Talks on the truce and hostage deal are under way to end fighting between Hamas and Israel that erupted after the militant group carried out a cross-border raid in October 2023 that killed 1,200 Israelis — and triggered Israel’s invasion of Gaza, which has reportedly killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and left the besieged enclave in ruins.
Shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, both sides agreed to a cease-fire with an initial six-week phase. But while Hamas is pushing to begin talks on the second phase of the truce, Israel wants to extend the first phase of the deal to continue the hostage exchange, without any commitment to permanently end the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson said last week that Israel was prepared to ratchet up the pressure and wouldn’t rule out cutting off all electricity to Gaza if Hamas didn’t meet its demands in talks to free the hostages.
The electricity cutoff comes after Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday that they were preparing for the next phase of cease-fire negotiations. Hamas said there were “positive indicators” for the start of the cease-fire’s second-phase talks but did not elaborate.
Israel said it was preparing for talks. “Israel has accepted the invitation of the mediators backed by the U.S., and will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations,” Netanyahu’s office said.
