Netanyahu says Israeli team to travel to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks. Netanyahu says he instructed an Israeli negotiation team to depart for Cairo on Monday. On Saturday, Hamas and Israel completed the sixth prisoner-for-hostage exchange. Hamas released three more Israeli hostages held in Gaza, while Israeli authorities freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The second phase of the agreement is supposed to focus on the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, and the implementation of a permanent ceasefire. The first phase has been effective since January 19 and spanning six weeks, with 33 Israeli hostages expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. The agreement was supposed to begin talks on the second phase in early February, but Hamas said in a statement on February 4 that it had started discussions with international mediators, whereas a spokesman for Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel had not yet begun negotiations on theSecond Phase of the Agreement. The negotiations are expected to continue this week \”at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of Phase Two successfully,\” U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
