Israel is willing to extend the ceasefire if more captives are freed, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told his 20 European Union counterparts in Brussels, according to a statement from his office that The Times of Israel cited.

"It will not happen without the release of hostages," Sa'ar remarked in his meetings with the Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Finnish and Slovakian foreign ministers. "We are committed to the release of our hostages and to the war's objectives that we set," according to the Times of Israel. Sa'ar also informed them that it is time to apply the current sanctions on Iran and introduce new ones. The hostage-release ceremonies held by Hamas during the ceasefire’s first phase have weakened the group's hold on power in Gaza, according to two international diplomats speaking to The Times of Israel.

Hamas has used these events to show that it still controls Gaza after more than 15 months of war with Israel. However, Israel and other critics have dismissed the ceremonies as "humiliating" and have insisted they must stop before any more prisoners are exchanged for hostages. According to a senior Arab diplomat and a senior European Union diplomat who spoke to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, the performances have caused the Trump administration to significantly increase pressure on its Arab allies to push forward a post-war management plan for Gaza that would see Hamas ousted from power. 

"This was something that the Arab states wanted before but were resigned to the fact that it wasn't possible, given that Israel had tried to defeat Hamas for over a year and couldn't succeed," the EU diplomat said. "Hamas has been sending signals that it is prepared to give up ruling Gaza. Giving up its weapons will be far more difficult, but that is being discussed in the region in recent weeks," the senior Arab diplomat added, as per The Times of Israel.