WASHINGTON, Feb 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli representatives were en route Tuesday to talks on the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal following an agreement on exchanging Palestinian prisoners for the bodies of Israeli hostages, a US envoy said.

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's point person on the Middle East, repeated that he was also ready to head back to the region to boost diplomacy.

"We're making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak," Witkoff told an event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee.

"It's either going to be in Doha or in Cairo, where negotiations will begin again with the Egyptians and the Qataris," he said.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States -- in an unusual joint effort between Trump's diplomatic team and the administration of former president Joe Biden -- sealed an agreement in January after months of diplomacy to pause more than a year of bloodshed in Gaza.

Mediators said Tuesday they restored a swap that was part of the first phase of the deal, which is set to end on March 1.

Israel agreed to release 600 Palestinian prisoners, who had been due to be freed last week, in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier held off on the deal due to what he described as "humiliating ceremonies" to free the hostages by Hamas, which opened the war with an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Witkoff said the focus of the new talks will be to "put phase two on track and have some additional hostage release -- and we think that's a real possibility."

Witkoff said that "maybe" he will join the negotiations on Sunday "if it goes well." He earlier spoke of traveling to the region this week.

Trump in his first term spearheaded the so-called Abraham Accords, in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized relations with Israel -- the first Arab countries to do so in decades.

Witkoff voiced optimism at efforts to bring onboard Saudi Arabia, arguably the biggest prize due to its significance as guardian of Islam's two holiest sites.

But he also said he saw potential for normalization by Lebanon and Syria, after recent setbacks by forces in the two countries with ties to Iran's clerical government.

"Lebanon, by the way, could actually mobilize and come into the Abraham Peace Accords, as could potentially Syria. So, so many profound changes are happening," Witkoff said.