Now what, indeed.
Israel has refused to progress to the second phase of the cease-fire, in which it would have been obligated to withdraw from Gaza in stages in exchange for 24 living hostages. They offered instead an extension of Phase 1 to exchange those hostages for more Palestinian prisoners, but Hamas refused — since the hostages are the only leverage they have. The Israeli negotiators packed up and went back to Jerusalem.
So … now what?
Two Egyptian security sources had told Reuters the day before that Hamas disagreed with the plan to extend the first phase of the hostage deal and wanted to proceed with the second phase. The Israeli delegation went to Cairo and wanted to reach a deal to extend its first phase for an additional six weeks.
An official told The Jerusalem Post that such an extension would involve the release of four male hostages –…
