Gaza City: The war in Palestine’s Gaza Strip will not resume after the implementation of the first stage of the ceasefire deal, Hamas political office deputy head Musa Abu Marzouk told Sputnik.
“I rule out that the war will resume after the first stage [of the ceasefire deal]. Not because he [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] is peace-loving, but the Israeli army will fight, and the remaining prisoners are its servicemen. In total, more than 60 Israeli prisoners of war are in captivity,” Abu Marzouk said.
He also expressed the opinion that Israel would probably agree to a second deal in order to secure the release of its servicemen. He also responded that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was unlikely to resume hostilities that could result in the death of prisoners of war.
“Therefore, the Israeli army will not fight while their comrades are in captivity. All this time they fought to free women, the sick and civilians, but they did not free soldiers,” Abu Marzouk added.
Earlier, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the second phase of negotiations between the parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip should begin on Monday, February 3.
Western media reported earlier, citing sources, that Israel did not intend to send a delegation of negotiators to Doha to discuss the second phase of the truce with Palestinian movement Hamas.
