Israel to begin negotiations on next phase of Gaza truce 'this week'

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that Israel would begin negotiations "this week" on the second phase of a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"We had yesterday night a security cabinet meeting. We decided to open negotiations on the second phase. It will happen this week," Saar said of the talks, which were originally supposed to start on February 3.

Saar said that Israel demanded the "complete demilitarization of Gaza", and would "not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist groups" in the Palestinian territory.

Israel is also "committed to our goal to ensure the release of all our hostages" and all the other objectives of the war as decided by the security cabinet, Saar told a press conference in Jerusalem.