Gaza, March 9 (IANS) Hamas has said that there were positive signs regarding negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would send a delegation to Doha on Monday for truce talks

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said on Saturday in a press statement that “the efforts of Egyptian and Qatari mediators are ongoing to finalise the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and initiate negotiations for its second phase, with positive indicators in that direction”.

He emphasised Hamas’s readiness to engage in these negotiations in a manner that meets the demands of the Palestinian people, Xinhua news agency reported.

The spokesman also called for intensified efforts to provide humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip and lift the Israeli blockade.

Meanwhile, Taher al-Nunu, an advisor to Hamas’s political bureau chief, announced that a Hamas delegation, led by Mohammad Darwish, head of the movement’s leadership council, had arrived in Cairo.

According to al-Nunu, the delegation will hold talks with Egyptian officials regarding the outcomes of a recent Arab summit and ways to implement them.

Discussions will also focus on the necessity of moving forward with the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, al-Nunu said.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Friday for talks on implementing terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal and pushing forward negotiations on its second phase, Egypt’s State Information Service said in a statement.

A three-phase Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, took effect on January 19.

The negotiations for the second phase of the deal remain stalled after the initial 42-day phase expired on March 1.

Egypt has been intensifying diplomatic efforts to achieve a Gaza ceasefire and advance the strip’s reconstruction.

On Tuesday, Egypt hosted an emergency Arab summit and proposed a Gaza non-displacement reconstruction plan valued at $53 billion.

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had accepted an invitation from US-backed mediators and would “send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations”.

The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire ended on March 1 after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, though widespread hostilities have not resumed.

While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.

–IANS

int/khz