Officials from Israel and mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on starting the ceasefire's second phase in Cairo. But Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told The Associated Press there had been "no progress" before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday. Hamas did not attend, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Under the ceasefire deal's terms, fighting should not resume while negotiations are underway on phase two.

Israel's new statement says it can return to fighting "if it believes that the negotiations are ineffective," and it noted Hamas' refusal to accept the proposal for an extension of the first phase.

However, "if Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately enter into negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan," the statement says.

Before Israel's new statement, an Egyptian official involved in the talks spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. The official said Hamas, Qatar and Egypt wanted to continue with the existing ceasefire deal, and they rejected Israel's proposal to extend the ceasefire for four weeks with a release of hostages every Saturday without officially entering negotiations on the second phase.

The Egyptian official said the U.S. wants to start negotiations on the second phase but called for hostage releases during the negotiations. Hamas insisted on a full implementation of the ceasefire terms.

The first phase, which paused 15 months of fighting in Gaza, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people returned home to northern Gaza, aid into the territory increased and Israeli forces withdrew to buffer zones.

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