Netanyahu meets US envoys, Hamas hands over body
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US envoys have met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aiming to corral Israel and Hamas to get the Gaza Strip ceasefire plan back on track after an explosion of violence over the weekend that threatened to derail the week-old truce.
Israel and Hamas have both recommitted to the ceasefire plan pushed by US President Donald Trump since Sunday’s flare-up in which a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers prompted an Israeli bombardment killing at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip.
However, with even the first stages of the truce shaken by repeated flashes of violence, including on Monday, it is far from clear whether the US will be able to keep pressure on the two sides and maintain momentum to end the conflict.
The US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were expected to push to shore up the truce and then start talks on the next, more difficult, phase of the 20-step plan during their visit.
US Vice President JD Vance was also due to visit Israel on Tuesday, with Netanyahu saying the two will discuss regional challenges and opportunities.
Addressing Israel’s parliament, Netanyahu said that together with Trump, he expected to forge peace agreements in the region.
High level US diplomacy in the region, with talks also due later on Monday with Hamas in Egypt, underscore the importance of cementing the ceasefire to Trump, who last week proclaimed “the historic dawn of a new Middle East”.
On Monday, Palestinian medics said three more people had been killed by Israeli tank fire near the “yellow line” demarcating Israel’s military pullback inside the Gaza Strip from the main populated areas.
The Israeli military said forces had fired at militants who crossed that line.
Gaza City residents said they were confused about the line, with electronic maps available but physical markings not established yet on most of the route.
“The whole area is in ruins. We saw the maps but we can’t tell where those lines are,” said Samir, 50, who lives in Tuffah.
Israel’s defence minister on Monday published video showing bulldozers towing yellow blocks into place to mark out the line.
Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Israel, aimed at discussions on the next phase of Trump’s complex ceasefire plan, was scheduled before Sunday’s flare-up in violence, according to US and Israeli sources.
Trump said the ceasefire he brokered was still in place.
Hamas leadership, he said, may not be involved in the violations.
“We think maybe the leadership isn’t involved in that,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Hamas handed over the body of another person presumed to be one of the hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli communities.
The Israeli army said on Monday that the coffin had been handed over to employees of the Red Cross.
They were on their way to transfer it to the military.
According to the ceasefire agreement, Hamas must hand over a total of 28 bodies.
If the body handed over on Monday is positively identified as one of the missing hostages, 15 dead hostages would still remain in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt will host talks in Cairo on Monday with Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ exiled Gaza Strip chief, over ways to follow up on implementing the ceasefire, the group said in a statement.
A Palestinian official close to the talks said the group’s delegation would discuss ways to push forward the formation of a technocratic body to run the enclave without Hamas representation.
Hamas and other allied factions reject any foreign administration of the strip as envisaged in the Trump plan and has so far resisted calls to lay down arms, which may complicate implementation of the deal.
with DPA
Reuters
