Just before it was set to end, Israel and Hamas declared on Thursday that their cease-fire would be extended for one day. According to mediator Qatar, the cease-fire will remain in place under the same terms, which included the release of detainees in exchange for hostages.
Just before the cease-fire was scheduled to end at 0500GMT, the Israeli military announced that the “operational pause” would be prolonged.
“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue,” added the statement.
Later, the prime minister’s office announced that it had received a new list of prisoners and confirmed the extension.
Without giving a timeline, it stated, “A short while ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue.”
As for Hamas, it announced that a deal had been reached to “extend the truce for a seventh day,” but offered no other information.
It had earlier alleged that when Israel offered to turn over seven prisoners and the bodies of three more, it first refused to extend the truce.
The negotiations for a truce have been spearheaded by Qatar, which has acknowledged that the break has been extended for one day “under the same previous conditions.”
The declaration was made amid mounting calls for an extension of the ceasefire, and just hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel on Wednesday night.
It has put an end to the violence, which started on October 7. Following that, Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of around 15,000 people, the majority of them civilians, and left much of the northern region in ruins.
Extensions of the truce are possible provided Hamas releases 10 more prisoners per day, although both sides had earlier issued warnings that they were prepared to resume hostilities.
According to a message on its Telegram channel, Hamas’s armed wing instructed its fighters to “maintain high military readiness… in anticipation of a resumption of combat if it is not renewed.”
Additionally, in the event that the truce brokered, forces would “move into operational mode very quickly and continue with our targets in Gaza,” according to IDF spokesman Doron Spielman.
Ten more Israeli prisoners were released overnight per the provisions of the agreement, while two Israeli-Russian ladies and four more hostages from Thailand were released without regard to the agreement.
In a video that Hamas made public, masked gunmen were shown delivering hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Liat Beinin, an American citizen who works as a guide at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, was among those freed.
Declaring himself “deeply gratified” with the release was US President Joe Biden. Regarding the ceasefire, he declared, “This deal has delivered meaningful results.”
The Israeli prison authorities announced shortly after the hostages arrived that 30 Palestinian inmates, including well-known campaigner Ahed Tamimi, had been freed.
210 Palestinian inmates have been released in exchange for 70 Israeli hostages since the truce’s start on November 24.
Approximately thirty foreign nationals, primarily Thais residing in Israel, have been released in violation of the agreement.
Although Israel has made it plain that it views the truce as a short-term stop to allow for the release of prisoners, there are increasing calls for a longer-term truce.
A “true humanitarian ceasefire” is what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for, cautioning that Gaza is “in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe.”
Also, China called for an immediate “sustained humanitarian truce” in a position paper that was made public on Thursday. Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, was in New York for Security Council discussions regarding the bloodshed.
Families have been joyfully but agonizingly waiting every night to find out if their loved ones will be freed as a result of the hostage releases.
On the other hand, the Israeli army also announced on Wednesday that it was looking into a report made by the armed wing of Hamas, which claimed that an Israeli bombing in Gaza had killed the mother, brother, and 10-month-old hostage.
Before the ceasefire, Israel attacked the Gaza Strip nonstop, driving out an estimated 1.7 million people and restricting the flow of gasoline, food, water, and medical supplies.
The World Food Programme describes the situation as “catastrophic” and the population is “highly vulnerable to famine.”
During the fighting, Israeli forces targeted multiple hospitals in northern Gaza, claiming Hamas was using them for military training. There was no evidence that Hamas supported the Israeli charges, which it disputed.
Five premature newborns were found dead in Gaza City’s Al-Nasr hospital, where medical staff was forced to flee, according to a statement from the Gaza Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, who talked with AFP on Wednesday.
Though many have little left, the truce has allowed those who were displaced to return to their homes.
“I returned home to southeastern Gaza and saw that my house had been completely destroyed—I spent 27 years of my life building it and everything is gone,” said 46-year-old Taghrid al-Najjar.
Tensions in the West Bank have also increased as a result of the bloodshed in Gaza; since October 7, around 240 Palestinians have died at the hands of Israeli forces or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel claimed it “responded with live fire… and hits were identified” after suspects threw explosive devices towards troops, resulting in the deaths of an eight-year-old boy and a teenager.
Israeli police reported that two Palestinian assailants opened fire at a bus stop during morning rush hour near the entrance to Jerusalem shortly after the agreement was announced, killing two and wounded eight others. It stated that both attackers had been “neutralized.”
“Two terrorists arrived at the scene in a vehicle armed with firearms, these terrorists opened fire towards civilians at the bus station and were subsequently neutralised by security forces and a nearby civilian,” according to the police
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