Israel hopes more hostages would be released during this period. The Israeli PM said Witkoff made the proposal after realising that negotiations over the second phase of the ceasefire were not likely

Hamas said on Saturday that it rejected Israel's "formulation" of extending the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, on the day the first stage of the deal was set to expire.

Hamas, the Palestinian jihadist movement at war with Israel, announced that it rejected Israel’s “formulation” of an extension to the first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal expiring on Saturday. Twenty five living and eight dead Israeli hostages have been released under the first phase, along with five Thai workers.

Israel has introduced what it said was a new U.S. ceasefire plan and is trying to force Hamas to accept it by imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip

Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the ceasefire agreement hours after its first phase ended. It called the decision to cut off aid “cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack” on the truce,

Hamas will not agree to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal as requested by Israel, a senior Hamas official said Sunday. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mahmoud Mardawi said Hamas would only release the remaining Israeli hostages under the terms of the already agreed-upon phased deal.

Israel will stop the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza to pressure Palestinian militant group Hamas into accepting a temporary extension of the ceasefire agreement, officials said on Sunday, a day after the initial phase of the truce expired.