Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
28-11-2023
JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY: A humanitarian pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediator Qatar and Hamas say, hours before an initial four-day truce in Gaza had been set to expire.
“The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,” Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on X, formerly twitter, on Monday.
Qatar, the United States and Egypt have engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza, which mediators had said was designed to be broadened and expanded.
Over the course of the initial truce, a total of 50 civilian captives, all women and children, were expected to be freed by Hamas.
In exchange, 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 further.
“It [the possibility of an extension] was written in the agreement, that if Hamas gives more hostages, there will be more days of the ceasefire,” he told media.
“We have now agreed to release more hostages and extend the agreement for two days. This is good news for our people, especially the people of Gaza.
“I hope we can extend it until we reach 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 lots of 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 jails.
As a result of parallel negotiations led by Qatar, 17 Thai citizens, one Filipino and one dual Russian-Israeli national have also been released by Hamas.
Hamas fighters seized about 240 hostages when they stormed from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
After the attack, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and a ground offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 15,000 people, including more than 6,000 children, according to Palestinian officials. (Int’l News Desk)
