Jerusalem: An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.
The US-born Ron Dermer is a Cabinet minister who’s widely seen as Netanyahu’s closest adviser. He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the US and is a former Republican activist with strong ties to the Trump White House.
Previous talks have been led by the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies.
Israel and Hamas have yet to negotiate a second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire, and the first ends in early March. Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and take over the territory. Talks have not yet started on the second stage, which is meant to include an end to the war, return of all hostages and Israeli pull-out from Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has reiterated his opposition to such a move, calling on the international community to support a reconstruction plan that will allow Palestinians to stay in their homeland.
Also on Wednesday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone strike on a car in a border village killed one person.
The strike in the village of Aita al-Shaab was the first since Israeli troops withdrew from southern border areas a day earlier as part of a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The agency also said Israeli troops opened fire on the Lebanese side of the border, injuring two people.
Meanwhile, Israeli military prosecutors have charged five soldiers with assault over an attack on a Palestinian detainee in which they sodomised him with a knife.