Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
A three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took hold in January after months of painstaking negotiations.
Hamas officials said Tuesday they have begun talks with international mediators over the second phase of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that began last month. The first phase of the three-part agreement put a halt to 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allowed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza and released 18 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and Israel are set to hammer out the details of further hostage and prisoner exchanges, an indefinite extension of the truce, and who will govern Gaza in the second part of the agreement. The war could resume in early March if an agreement on the second part of the deal is not reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that talks on the ceasefire’s second phase will begin on Monday after speaking with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.The leader is facing growing pressure from right-wing members of his coalition to abandon the ceasefire with Hamas militants in Gaza. His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has vowed to remove his ministers from the ruling coalition if the war isn’t relaunched — a step that could lead to early elections in Israel. Netanyahu is currently set to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday. For his part, Trump said he had “no guarantees” of the Israel-Hamas truce holding, although has taken credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the agreement — which was brokered mere days before Trump returned to office. Hamas, who have reasserted control over Gaza since the ceasefire began, said it won’t release further Israeli hostages without an end to Israeli fighting and the military’s full withdrawal. Netanyahu has said that Israel is committed to total victory over Hamas and the return of all hostages captured in the 7 October attack, which triggered war between the pair that has destabilised the Middle East and killed scores of people.Additional sources • AP
