The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will be extended for two more days, Qatar announced this Monday, as mediator of the conflict in the Middle East.
“Qatar announces, as a mediator of the conflict, that an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for another two days in the Gaza Strip,” said Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed Al Ansari, in a publication on the social network formerly Twitter). ).
The State of Qatar, as part of the ongoing mediation, has reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian treaty for two more days in the Gaza Strip.
-د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023
In a statement, Hamas announced “an agreement with the Qatari and Egyptian brothers to extend the temporary humanitarian truce, which will be for another two days, under the same conditions as the previous truce.”
Israel has not yet confirmed the extension of the agreement.
Previously, al-Ansari had indicated that the parties were in a series of talks with a view to extending the truce, which has been in force for four days, while the Egyptian government – which is also acting as a mediator – proposed a two-day extension. . in exchange for the release of 20 more hostages.
Hamas, which took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, had also indicated that it was preparing a new list of hostages who must be released to prolong the truce in fighting with Israel.
Despite some minor setbacks, both sides have so far respected the agreement, which resulted in the release of 58 hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip and 117 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The fourth exchange is scheduled for today and Israel has already announced that it has received a list of the next hostages to be released.
Among the 58 people kidnapped and released by Hamas since Friday were 19 foreigners who were not part of the agreement.
The agreement between Israel and the Islamic group was possible thanks to the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States and provided for a four-day truce, the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza from Egypt, as well as the release of a total of 50 hostages. kidnapped on October 7 and 150 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, all of them minors or women.
In addition, it includes the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and a clause by which the agreement could be extended by up to ten days if Hamas agrees to hand over at least ten more prisoners for each additional day.
The truce has so far allowed the entry of hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated by seven weeks of Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the bloody attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 people dead. .
The North American president, Joe Biden, the European Union and NATO had requested the extension of the agreement.
The release of a greater number of hostages is vehemently demanded by Israeli public opinion, traumatized by the Hamas attack a month and a half ago in the south of the country.
In response to the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel declared war on the Palestinian Islamist movement and heavily bombed the Gaza Strip until the parties reached an agreement on a four-day truce.
Until the start of the truce, Israeli army attacks in Gaza had killed more than 14,000 people, according to Hamas, which has controlled the enclave since 2007.
News updated at 17:42
Source: TSF
