JERUSALEM: Israel has approved a US proposal to extend the truce in Gaza through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in mid-April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the proposal from US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“Israel adopts the plan of the US president’s envoy Steve Witkoff for a temporary truce for the periods of Ramadan” due to end in late March “and Pesach”, the eight-day Jewish Passover to be observed in mid-April, said the statement, released just after midnight (2200 GMT on Saturday).
The first phase of a ceasefire that took effect on January 19 expired on Saturday.
A second phase of that deal was supposed to secure the release of dozens of hostages still in Gaza and pave the way for a more permanent end to the war.
According to Netanyahu’s office, Witkoff tabled this temporary extension as a stopgap after concluding that Israel and Hamas were at a negotiating impasse and could not immediately agree on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.
