Mossad director David Barnea told ministers that “there is already a semi-public dialogue about new peace agreements with several countries.”
The comments were made during the Security Cabinet's meeting on Thursday, in which the ceasefire agreement was approved, and were released by Kan News on Sunday morning alongside statements by other Israeli defense officials.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir commented on the IDF's partial withdrawal from Gaza following the implementation of the first stage of the agreement. "We are not at the end of the war, but at the end of its first phase,” he said.
Kan News reported on Friday that, so far, the parties have only signed the first stage of the agreement, and the second stage of the plan “remains completely vague.”
Israel made it clear that there would be no negotiations regarding later stages of the plan until Hamas releases all the hostages.
Sources added that US President Donald Trump “skipped sections” of the plan and discussed only the first phase, which includes the IDF’s withdrawal from deep inside Gaza and the release of the hostages.
Looking to the future
According to the sources, mediators presented the deal in a way that allowed each side to “understand what it wanted,” which may have led to agreement on the first stage but could open the door to future problems when implementing the full plan.
Trump is preparing for the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) to establish a command and control center in Israeli territory for future security coordination in the Gaza Strip.
A senior general and hundreds of American soldiers will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the 20-point plan.
Points of the plan to be implemented in later stages include further IDF pullback, deployment of an international stabilization force, explicit ban on any future Hamas role in governance, dismantling offensive infrastructure (including tunnels), and transition to Palestinian Authority (PA)–led self-rule contingent on reforms and security benchmarks.