Israel and Hamas agree to extend truce for seventh day | Israel-Palestine conflict News
The truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended for a seventh day, sources from both sides announced just minutes before the agreement was set to expire.
Israel’s military said on Thursday that the temporary pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip will continue “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement”.
In a separate statement, Hamas said an agreement has been reached to extend the temporary ceasefire, which initially began on Friday.
The truce will be extended for another 24 hours.
Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides, said the agreement was being extended under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Until the last hour, the prospect of an extension was in question, after the two sides failed to agree on the new list of Israelis to be released from Gaza on Thursday.
Down to the wire
The extension was delayed right up until the deadline as Hamas said Israel rejected a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three hostages who the group said were killed in previous Israeli airstrikes. Israel later said Hamas submitted an improved list, paving the way for the extension.
The talks between the two sides appear to be growing tougher as most of the women and children held by Hamas are freed, and the Palestinian group is expected to seek greater releases in return for freeing men and soldiers.
“There are only so many civilian hostages left,” Mohamed Elmasry, an analyst with the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, to Al Jazeera.”The longer this extends, the more difficult this will be for Hamas to produce civilian hostages because they have a very limited number of them.”
He said Hamas would likely demand far greater concessions, such as a permanent ceasefire and the release of all Palestinian prisoners, to release Israeli soldiers.
“Israel is going to want those hostages back. The question is: at what price,” Elmasry said.
Relief in Gaza
News of Thursday’s extension came as a relief in Gaza, where citizens were left in the dark about the truce’s status until early Thursday morning, said Al Jazeera’s Tarek Abu Azzoum, reporting from the enclave.
He said the pause in the fighting means “more humanitarian aid will be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip [Thursday], including water, food, medicine, and even fuel”.
“Every new single day of extension [of the truce] will give Palestinians a new opportunity to be alive and to have more supplies to help them alleviate the humanitarian crisis,” he said.
International pressure for such a lasting ceasefire has mounted after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign in Gaza. The Israeli attacks have killed at least 15,000 Palestinians, uprooted three quarters of the population of 2.3 million and sparked a devastating humanitarian crisis.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days, including 16 on Thursday morning, and says it will maintain the truce for as long as Hamas keeps freeing captives.
Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Wednesday that Israel will eventually resume its attacks on Gaza as it seeks to root out Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years.
“After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes,” he said. “There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.”
