(25 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerusalem – 25 February 2025
1. Wide of Sharren Haskel, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, on stage during briefing
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sharren Haskel, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister:
“I hope the solution will be found in order to release, as agreed, the next four hostages in the next few days. Hamas has been really violently disobeying the agreement that they signed on, including promising, not to run our hostages through that abuse that they’ve had, on stage being paraded that way.”
3. Close of text projected on screen
4. Mid of Haskel on stage during briefing
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sharren Haskel, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister:
“It might be a possibility that, in regards to extending somewhat of the ceasefire in return to bring back some of our hostages, that we might extend it, but in regards to the full one, we can’t, you know, a full second stage, I think it’s unrealistic to see something like that forming within a few days. This is something that needs to be discussed in depth. This is going to take time. This is the day after Gaza, after the war in Gaza and what’s gonna happen there. And so we are continuing that channel with the Americans. And you know we didn’t close the option of continuing the current ceasefire, but in return to our hostages.”
6. Haskel walking off stage
STORYLINE:
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday it may be possible to "extend" the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas due to end this week, as negotiations on commencing the second phase stall.
The two sides were supposed to start negotiating a second phase weeks ago, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the war, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
But those negotiations have not begun — there have only been preparatory talks — and the first phase has been jolted by one dispute after another.
Sharren Haskel told a news conference it is “unrealistic,” for the sides to reach an agreement on the second phase in coming days.
"This is something that needs to be discussed in depth. This is going to take time… and you know we didn’t close the option of continuing the current ceasefire," she said.
Hamas has freed all 25 living hostages included in the first six-week phase ending on March 1 in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
It has also released the bodies of four captives and is expected to turn over four more, though it’s unclear if that will happen Thursday as planned.
That leaves it with more than 60 captives, around half of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel has meanwhile delayed the release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to be freed last weekend over the treatment of the captives, who were paraded before crowds.
Hamas says it won’t negotiate anything until the prisoners whose release was delayed are freed.
AP video by Shlomo Mor
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