The Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, the Palestinian organization and mediator Qatar announced Monday, clearing the path for more hostages and detainees to be released.
With just hours before the humanitarian pause was set to end early Tuesday, Hamas announced an agreement to extend it by 48 hours under the existing circumstances.
Although there was no instant confirmation from the Israeli side, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded the extension as “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the midst of the darkness of war.”
Qatar has been engaged in intensive discussions to establish and extend the Gaza truce, with the cooperation of the US and Egypt.
Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, claimed that “an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional two days.”
Hamas, which governs Gaza and launched an unprecedented onslaught on southern Israel last month, said it was compiling a new list of hostages for release.
On the final day of the initial four-day truce, Israel’s military announced late Monday that 11 hostages were “now in Israeli territory.”
Qatar stated that the 11 Israelis would be released in exchange for 33 Palestinian inmates, the majority of whom are youngsters.
According to Qatar, the liberated Israelis are dual nationals of France, Germany, and Argentina.
According to Israeli officials, the respite is intended to allow Hamas to rescue more of the around 240 hostages it has been holding since the October 7 massacre, which also killed 1,200 Israelis and tourists.
However, there have been widespread appeals to build on the cease-fire to allow more humanitarian aid to reach residents in Gaza, where Israel’s war against Hamas has killed about 15,000 people, the majority of whom are Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas leadership.
The majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, and they are in desperate need of basic necessities.
The declarations came after US President Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg all urged a prolonged cease-fire.
A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian inmates were to be exchanged over the first four days.