GAZA: The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce is drawing to a close on Saturday (Mar 1), but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive.

An Israeli delegation in Cairo is negotiating to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire when it expires on Saturday rather than move to the second phase as originally planned and as Hamas wants,

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began Thursday, Egypt said. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, was also found dead in their New Mexico home. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out on social media after a fiery exchange with President Trump and VP Vance at the Oval Office on Friday afternoon.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began Thursday in the Egyptian capital, Egypt said, averting a collapse ahead of Saturday's expiration of the agreement's first phase.

Israel announced it will not withdraw from the strategic Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt, potentially jeopardizing the fragile ceasefire with Hamas.

In the final exchange of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Hamas released the bodies of four hostages and Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The six-week first phase ends on Saturday and details of a second phase are still to be determined.