Israel and Hamas extended their truce late on Monday after agreeing to release more hostages and prisoners, and Washington said it was dispatching its top diplomat to the region for more talks over the conflict in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to visit Israel for the third time since Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, his office said, as he landed in Brussels for a NATO meeting. CIA Director Bill Burns was yesterday to meet with his Israeli counterpart and Qatar’s prime minister to discuss a further truce extension, Axios reported.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause fighting until early tomorrow, extending their truce to six days.
Photo: Reuters
Qatar has received guarantees that 20 hostages are to be released over the next 48 hours, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference, adding that the Middle Eastern country’s aim is to secure a longer truce.
Blinken’s talks are aimed at pressing for a long-term solution to the crisis, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state, the US Department of State said on Monday.
He is also to “stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and improve protections for civilians in Gaza,” it said.
The current halt — which began on Friday last week after negotiations brokered by Qatar, with the help of Egypt and the US — was originally due to end yesterday.
The talks have brought the release of almost 70 of the 240 hostages taken when Hamas swarmed across Gaza’s northern border and have led to the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. There has been increased delivery of aid into Gaza.
More aid supplies are needed to alleviate a “catastrophic” situation there, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Tor Wennesland said on X.
Large areas of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where Israel says Hamas has its main bases, have been reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. Authorities in the Hamas-run territory estimate that more than 15,000 people have been killed.
The extended ceasefire is expected to continue the exchange of small groups of people, with roughly one hostage held in Gaza released for three Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Israel’s government, which has said it is pursuing the twin aims of securing the release of captives and dismantling Hamas, has been pressured by public concern over those who have been abducted to keep pushing for the release of more of its citizens as details of the conditions under which they were kept begin to seep out.
Israel has reiterated its intention to continue the war once the ceasefire is over. The conflict would cost the economy 198 billion shekels (US$53 billion), driven primarily by defense spending, Israel’s central bank said on Monday.
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