Following the last-minute agreement between Israel and Hamas this Thursday to extend the ceasefire for a seventh day, authorities in the United States hope that the truce can be extended even further to free new hostages and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. .
The Reuters agency reported today that Israel, which had required Hamas to release 10 hostages per day to maintain the pause in attacks, received at the last minute a list of the new release of captives, which prevented new bombings from being reported. .
Seven weeks of attacks in the area have turned much of Gaza’s coastal territory, which was home to some 2.3 million people, into rubble following the Hamas offensive on October 7.
“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the hostage release process and subject to the terms of the agreement, the operational pause will continue,” the Israeli military said in a statement minutes before the truce expired.
With the most recent extension, the days of termination increase to seven.
Yesterday, Hamas released 16 people in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was positive that the negotiations will have results in terms of extending the ceasefire for more days.
Blinken bets on negotiations
“We have seen over the past week a very positive development of hostages returning home, being reunited with their families. And that continues today,” the official said during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog this Thursday.
“It also allows for an increase in humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians in Gaza who desperately need it. So this process is producing results. “It is important and we hope it continues,” Blinken added.
This is Blinken’s third visit to the Middle East since the war began.
97 hostages released during the truce period
So far, the terrorist group’s militants have released 97 hostages during the truce. Of these, 70 are Israeli women and children, each released in exchange for three detained Palestinian women and adolescents. Additionally, 27 foreign hostages have been released under parallel agreements with their respective governments.
To extend the truce, it will be necessary to establish new terms for the departure of Israeli men, including soldiers.
Deadly bus attack in Jerusalem
However, the probability of a prolongation of the negotiations hangs by a thread.
Shortly after the latest extension was agreed, police in Israel reported that two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during the morning rush hour at the entrance to Jerusalem, killing at least three people.
Both attackers were subdued, according to the report from the aforementioned news agency.
In the opinion of Israel’s Minister of National Security, Ben-Gvir, the above shows that only through war can Hamas be defeated.
“This event proves once again that we cannot show weakness, that we have to talk to Hamas only through the scope (of the rifle), only through war,” he said.
So far, the conditions of the agreement on the entry of humanitarian aid remain the same, reported the Qatari Foreign Ministry, the main mediator between the parties along with Egypt and the United States.
Previously, Hamas alleged that Israel rejected its offer to hand over seven women and children, as well as the bodies of three others. One of the deceased was the youngest hostage, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas. He died as a victim of an Israeli bombing along with his four-year-old brother and his mother.
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