Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Gaza truce mediators Egypt and Qatar are asking Israel for more time to resolve a stand-off with Hamas over extending the ceasefire in the war-battered territory, sources familiar with the matter have told The National.
They said Hamas has rejected Israel's request to extend the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire that expires on Saturday and is demanding instead that Israel immediately enters negotiations on the second phase, which had been due to begin early in February.
Hamas on Saturday repeated its rejection of Israel's "formulation" of extending the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. The group's spokesperson Hazem Qassem also told Al Araby TV there were currently no talks on the second phase.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, negotiations on the second phase were supposed to produce an agreement on a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as well as a permanent ceasefire.
The sources said Israel had offered instead to extend the ceasefire while Hamas releases the remaining 59 hostages still held captive in Gaza and to release more imprisoned Palestinians than previously agreed if the militant group forgoes the second and third phases of the deal.
"Israel has no intention to enter negotiations on the second phase because it has no intention to withdraw from Gaza or end the war before it's satisfied that Hamas has been fully eradicated," said one of the sources. "Egyptian and Qatari mediators asked Israel to give them a few days to find a way out of the deadlock."
Ayman Shanaa, a member of the political leadership of Hamas in Lebanon, sounded a defiant note in the face of Israel's repeated vows to dismantle the group.
"The Palestinian resistance will not surrender its weapons, but will instead develop them. Our battle with this enemy is still long," he told The National.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect on January 19, Hamas released 33 hostages in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons during the first phase.
The deadlock over entering the second phase of the deal comes just days before Egypt hosts an emergency Arab summit to discuss an alternative to US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle Gaza's 2.3 million residents in Egypt and Jordan before the United States takes over the territory and develops it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Mr Trump's vision for the postwar reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory has been globally rejected, with international rights groups saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing, a war crime.
A Palestinian political source in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw in Mr Trump's proposals, which he has warmly welcomed, an opportunity to evade the requirements of the deal.
The Arab summit is also expected to embrace an Arab Gaza reconstruction plan that provides for Gazans to remain in the coastal enclave while homes and infrastructure are rebuilt. However, the plan can only be implemented if there is a permanent ceasefire.
More than 48,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than twice that number injured during 15 months of Israel's military offensive against Hamas, according to Gaza authorities. The war, sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage, has displaced the majority of Gaza's residents and destroyed large swathes of the strip's built-up areas.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Two-step truce
The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National.
The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.
The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.
The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.
