“Hamas has informed mediators that it wants to extend the ceasefire for four days and that the movement will be able to release hostages from Israel that it, other resistance movements and other countries are holding during this period, under the terms of the current ceasefire,” the source told AFP news agency.
International mediators continued to push for an extension of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hoping that Hamas, which controls the territory, will continue to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and provide a longer respite from the fighting. Otherwise, the ceasefire will end on Wednesday night.
Hamas militants took about 240 hostages on October 7 when they stormed the Gaza border with Israel. According to the figures provided by the Jewish state, about 1.2 thousand were killed. people.
In response to the deadliest attack in the country’s history, Israel launched an air, artillery and naval offensive to destroy Hamas.
According to the Hamas government in Gaza, about 15,000 people died there. people.
Israel welcomes the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and promises to uphold a ceasefire if Hamas continues to release hostages. But his other major goal — to destroy the armed group that has ruled the Gaza Strip for 16 years — may be out of reach.
The Biden administration has told Israel that it needs to be much more precise when it resumes its offensive, especially in the south. Such an approach is unlikely to prompt Hamas to capitulate any time soon, especially as international pressure mounts for a lasting ceasefire.
“It will soon be clear how far both sides are willing to go in exchanging hostages and prisoners for a truce, but right now the pressure on both sides and the call to abide by this agreement is stronger than the call to go back to war,” the former United States special envoy wrote on the social network X Martin Indykas (Martinas Indaiks).
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CZA) William Burns and the head of the Israeli intelligence service “Mossad” David Barnea participated in negotiations on Tuesday in Doha regarding the extension of the pauses and the release of the hostages. Qatar played an important role in the mediation process with Hamas, holding talks in which Egypt also participated.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the occupied West Bank again this week and is likely to call for a longer ceasefire.
The G-7 countries, which include Israel’s close allies, called in a joint statement by their foreign ministers to extend the humanitarian pause, protect civilians and uphold international law.
“A Matter of Life and Death”
Hamas is believed to still be holding around 150 hostages, enough to extend the ceasefire for another two weeks under the current deal, which releases 10 hostages a day. But she is expected to negotiate harder for the release of the hostages and is likely to demand the release of Palestinian prisoners convicted of the deadly attacks.
Nine women, a teenager and two Thais were freed in the latest prisoner exchange on Tuesday. One of the released hostages, a 17-year-old girl with a white female named Bella, was seen near a Red Cross ambulance. Israel soon released 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The truce, which has been extended for two days, is expected to end after another prisoner exchange on Wednesday night.
The truce freed 60 Israelis, most of whom appeared healthy but shaken. A further 21 hostages – 19 Thais, one Filipino and one Israeli with Russian citizenship – have been released in separate negotiations since the ceasefire began. Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four hostages and the Israeli army rescued one. Two other hostages were found dead in the Gaza Strip.
The latest exchange brings to 180 the number of Palestinian women and teenagers freed from Israeli jails. Most of them were teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during clashes with Israeli forces. Several women were convicted by Israeli military courts of attempted deadly attacks. Palestinians celebrated the release of people they say had resisted Israel’s decades-long occupation of lands where they want to establish a future state.
More than 1.8 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s bombing and ground offensive. people, i.e. almost 80 percent population of the territory. According to the United Nations, most of them sought refuge in the south.
The cease-fire allowed for a significant increase in the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip. Every day, 160-200 trucks with humanitarian aid enter the Palestinian enclave. Almost twice as much humanitarian aid was delivered to the enclave before the war between Israel and Hamas, despite the fact that the need for aid is much greater now. People who want to get fuel and other essential goods have to wait in long queues for hours even before dawn.
As UN-run shelters were overcrowded, many people were forced to sleep on the streets in cold and rainy weather. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday of dire conditions in overcrowded shelters, saying “more people could die from disease than from bombing”.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that about 111 thousand people have respiratory diseases, 75 thousand – diarrhea, more than half of them are under the age of five. He also called for a lasting ceasefire, calling it a “matter of life and death”.
On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas blamed each other for a brief firefight in the northern Gaza Strip, but that did not appear to undermine the truce deal. Palestinian militants, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has repeatedly shelled Israeli forces along the northern border since the start of the war, halted the rocket fire at Israel.
#source #close #Hamas #group #ready #extend #ceasefire #days
2024-08-28 03:44:11
