Israel-Hamas truce extended by two days, Qatar says
Qatar said mediators had secured an agreement to prolong the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas by two days to allow the release of more hostages held in Gaza, Financial Times reports.
Qatar said mediators had secured an agreement to prolong the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas by two days to allow the release of more hostages held in Gaza.
The announcement on extending the original four-day pause, which had been due to expire on Monday, came as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faced mounting pressure to provide more time for hostages to be freed.
Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, announced the agreement “to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip” as part of his country’s mediation between Israel and Hamas.
He did not specify how many hostages would be released. But negotiators had said earlier that, if the ceasefire was extended by two days, Hamas would release another 20 women and children held in Gaza. In return, Israel would free another 60 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
Under the original four-day ceasefire brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US last week, Hamas had agreed to the staggered release of 50 women and children held in Gaza. Israel in turn had said it would allow more aid into the besieged strip and to free 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
