The negotiations for the second phase between Israel and Hamas within the framework of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip are at a standstill due to the former’s procrastination in the talks, which are scheduled to end by the end of this week, at a time when the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, who was assigned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conduct negotiations on the second phase, is in Washington.

Israel claimed on Friday that Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement and handed over the body of a Gazan woman instead of the body of an Israeli prisoner, after the resistance factions on Thursday handed over to Tel Aviv the bodies of four prisoners, including the bodies of the Bibas family and the body of prisoner Oded Lifshitz, in exchange for the release of about 50 Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian resistance factions are scheduled to announce on Friday the names of 6 Israeli prisoners who will be included in the exchange batch on Saturday, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

US President's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is supposed to put an end to the war, noting that progress has been made in the negotiations related to it.