The release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners is expected to continue this Thursday.
The truce that came into force on November 24 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, was extended at the last minute this Thursday morning, the two belligerents indicated.
The ceasefire coupled with a humanitarian pause was about to end.
“The Palestinian and Israeli sides agreed to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for another day”Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement.
The truce was due to expire at 7 a.m. local time, but a quarter of an hour before the deadline, the Israeli army issued a statement indicating that the “operational pause” would “continue”, “in light of the efforts of the mediators to continue the process of releasing the hostages” held in Gaza. Hamas, for its part, indicated that the truce was extended for “a seventh day”.
Entered into force on November 24, the truce has already allowed the release of 70 hostages Israelis and 210 Palestinian prisoners. In addition, around thirty foreigners, mostly Thais working in Israel, were released outside the framework of this agreement. And more humanitarian aid has flowed into the besieged Gaza Strip, devastated by seven weeks of bombing.
Qatar, the main mediator with the support of the United States and Egypt, kept “hope that the progress made in recent days will continue, and that a further extension of the humanitarian pause agreement can be granted”according to Majed al-Ansari.
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday, where he is due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to press for an extension of the truce, before going to the occupied West Bank.
“In the coming days, we will be focused on doing what we can to extend the pause so that we can continue to get more hostages out and more help in.”he declared on Wednesday on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Any extension of the truce “means more hostages coming home and more help.” It is “what we want, and I believe it is also what Israel wants”added Mr. Blinken during a press conference.
Proposals “insufficient”
In the absence of an extension of the truce, Israeli forces said on Wednesday “fully positioned and ready to simply restart our operations”warned Israeli army spokesperson Doron Spielman on X (formerly Twitter). “We will move very quickly into operational mode and pursue our targets in Gaza.”he warned.
Ten Israeli hostages, including five dual nationals (one Dutch, three Germans and one American), as well as two Russians and four Thais, were handed over by Hamas to the International Red Cross, before being taken to a military base in Israel.
In exchange, thirty Palestinians (16 minors and 14 women) detained in several Israeli prisons were subsequently released.
Among those released is Ahed Tamimi, a 22-year-old activist and icon of the struggle against the Israeli occupation.
She was arrested on November 6 for a post on Instagram which, according to Israeli sources, called for the massacre of Israelis and made reference to Hitler.
Her mother Narimane, whose husband was also arrested, claimed that Ahed was never able to make this post, as her social media accounts were systematically blocked by Israel.
The war between Hamas and Israel began on October 7 when commandos from the Islamist group infiltrated from the neighboring Gaza Strip launched an attack in Israel on an unprecedented scale. Approximately 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians, were killed and around 240 kidnapped according to the authorities.
In retaliation, Israel promised to“annihilate” Hamas, in power since 2007 in Gaza, shelling the Palestinian territory and launching a ground offensive on October 27, until the truce on November 24. According to the Hamas government, 14,854 people, including 6,150 under the age of 18, were killed in Israeli strikes.