The humanitarian pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediators Qatar and Hamas said, hours before an initial four-day truce in Gaza expires.
“The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for two more days in the Gaza Strip,” the spokesperson for the Qatari ministry said on X of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari. formerly Twitter, Monday.
Qatar, the United States and Egypt engaged in intense negotiations to establish and extend the truce in Gaza, which mediators said was designed to be extended and expanded.
During the initial truce, a total of 50 civilian prisoners, all women and children, were to be released by Hamas.
In return, 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were to be released and more humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza.
Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas official, said he hoped the truce could be extended.
“It (the possibility of an extension) was written in the agreement, that if Hamas gives more hostages, there will be more days of ceasefire,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune .
“We have now agreed to release more hostages and extend the agreement by two days. This is good news for our people, especially for the people of Gaza.
“I hope we can extend it until the end of this war. We want to end the war. We are in a temporary ceasefire, but we are trying to extend it. There is great support from Qatar, Egypt and many Western governments to end this catastrophe,” he said.
During the first three days of the truce, 39 Israeli captives were released by the armed group in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Following parallel negotiations led by Qatar, 17 Thai citizens, one Filipino and one dual Russian-Israeli national, were also released by Hamas.
Hamas fighters captured around 240 hostages during their attack from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7 and killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
After the attack, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 15,000 people, including more than 6,000 children, according to Palestinian officials.
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Nida Ibrahim said families in the occupied Palestinian territories would be relieved by the extension.
“This is a source of relief for many families, not only those of the prisoners, but also for others in the occupied West Bank who watch in horror the images coming from the besieged Gaza Strip.
“We are not only talking about the killings and the children who lost their lives, but also about the displaced people, the injured, the many people who are hungry and in a very difficult situation. »
The White House welcomed the extension of the truce and said it hoped Americans would be among the prisoners released in the next phase of exchanges. Eight to nine American citizens are believed to remain among those detained.
The UN chief also hailed the two-day extension as a “ray of hope and humanity”, but warned it was not enough time to meet the aid needs of Palestinians in the Strip. from Gaza.
“I sincerely hope that this will allow us to further increase humanitarian aid to the suffering people of Gaza – knowing that even with this additional time it will be impossible to meet all of the population’s dire needs. the population,” Guterres told reporters.
The extension was announced as Hamas said it had received a list with the names of prisoners who will be released later Monday in exchange for Israeli captives, the group said on its Telegram channel.
The list includes three prisoners and 30 other children.
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had informed the families of the identity of the captives who will be released on Monday.
