The Hamas terror group on Saturday clarified that they reject Israel's proposal to extend the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem added that as of now, there are no negotiations on progressing to the second stage.
"Israel bears the responsibility for the fact that the negotiations for the second stage have not started," Qasem claimed. "Israel wants to return its hostages with the option to restart the fighting against Gaza."
A different report said that the negotiations in Cairo to prepare the ground for beginning the second stage of the deal failed. The report added that Hamas will not release any hostage, other than in the complete implementation of the deal. According to the report, the negotiators have not succeeded in convincing Israel to begin negotiations on the second stage, and claim that Israel is only interested in extending the first stage, on condition that Hamas continues to release hostages.
On Friday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone conference with the heads of Israel's defense echelon and a number of ministers regarding the continued negotiations on the deal.