A series of hostage-for-prisoner swaps agreed under the first phase of the cease-fire is complete, and no one knows how long the uneasy calm will last.
With the clock running down on the first phase of the cease-fire in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent an Israeli delegation to Cairo on Thursday to hold further talks on extending the truce.
But even though the initial stage of the truce is set to lapse on Saturday night, Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress on forging terms for a comprehensive cease-fire. It was not clear on Thursday whether the Israeli delegation was playing for time or had a serious mandate to bridge the yawning gaps between the two sides.
The uncertainty has left both Israelis and Palestinians in limbo about the fate of more hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and whether fighting could soon restart.
“Our only hope is that the cease-fire continues,” said Shamekh al-Dibs, a 36-year-old living in a school-turned-shelter since his home in northern Gaza was destroyed.
For now, the first six-week phase of the cease-fire is set to conclude without a clear framework to take its place. That does not necessarily mean an immediate return to war: The agreement says the truce can continue as long as negotiators are working on the next steps. But it makes the already fragile deal more precarious.
Israeli government officials did not provide details about the delegation’s trip to Cairo, and extending the deal would entail tackling much thornier issues than hostage and prisoner releases, such as a permanent end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.
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