Two Palestinian sources familiar with the negotiations to salvage the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip reported on Thursday that progress had been made that could lead to a new exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Saturday as planned.

A source told Agence France-Presse that "the mediators held intensive discussions and obtained an initial Israeli pledge to implement the terms of the humanitarian protocol starting Thursday morning, while another source reported that "Hamas confirmed to the Egyptian officials its commitment to the agreement and to implementing the sixth batch of prisoner exchange on time on Saturday, as soon as the occupation commits."

On the 26th day of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Israeli media reported progress in the negotiation process, and stated that 3 Israelis will be released next Saturday as agreed upon, and that the aid that Israel is withholding is supposed to go to the northern Gaza Strip.

This comes as a Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya began meetings in Cairo with Egyptian officials to follow up on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, while the Al-Quds Brigades confirmed that the fate of the Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip is linked to the behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whether negatively or positively.