JERUSALEM / GAZA - Israel is preparing to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Israel is preparing for the working-echelon delegation to leave for Doha at the end of this week in order to discuss technical details related to the continued implementation of the agreement," the statement said.
Next week, the Security Cabinet is expected to convene to discuss Israel's overall position regarding the second stage of the deal, which according to the office, "will guide the continuation of the negotiations."
The announcement followed Netanyahu's meetings in Washington with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Netanyahu is set to meet Trump later Tuesday.
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Netanyahu's office said discussions would focus on the fragile truce and efforts to end the war in Gaza. The prime minister also hinted at discussions on efforts to advance a possible normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Hamas
A source from the political bureau of Hamas said on Monday that the movement is ready to engage in indirect negotiations with Israel to implement the second phase of the ceasefire and a potential prisoner-for-hostage exchange.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Hamas has fulfilled all the terms of the agreement and is ready to start indirect negotiations with Israel to finalize the second phase, which aims to ease the suffering of our people."
The Gaza deal includes a 42-day initial phase of truce, during which a total of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails are to be released. Talks on implementing the second phase were due to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire, which fell on Monday.
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However, Netanyahu said on Saturday that he would send a negotiation team to Doha only after he meets with Witkoff and Waltz in Washington.
The ceasefire took effect on Jan 19, putting a pause on 15 months of Israeli military operations in Gaza that left the Palestinian enclave devastated and killed around 62,000 people, including more than 17,000 children, according to the health authorities in Gaza.
West Bank
Meanwhile, two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shooting attack at a checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
In a statement, the military identified one of the slain soldiers as Ofer Yung, a 39-year-old reservist from Tel Aviv who was a squad commander in the 8211th Battalion, an infantry unit operating mainly in the northern West Bank.
The military said another soldier was killed but withheld his identity, saying his name had not yet been cleared for publication.
The military revised an earlier toll, saying two more reservists were seriously wounded and six others sustained minor injuries.
Initial military probe indicated that a Palestinian assailant, armed with an M-16 rifle and wearing a military vest, arrived overnight at the entrance of an outpost near the checkpoint outside the Palestinian village of Tayasir in the northern Jordan Valley. He lay in wait for Israeli troops nearby and opened fire on them early in the morning.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad praised the attack but did not claim responsibility.
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The incident came two days after the Israeli military announced the expansion of its large-scale operation in the northern West Bank to include the town of Tammun, near the Tayasir checkpoint.
According to Palestinian figures, at least 27 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the offensive began in Jenin last month.
