CAIRO/JERUSALEM听–听An Israel-Hamas truce in the Gaza Strip stretched into a fifth day on Tuesday as the two sides completed the release of听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听and detained听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s and聽looked poised to free听尘辞谤别听as the pause in fighting was extended by two days.
Hamas took about 240聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听during an Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听figures, prompting Israel to retaliate by bombing the coastal enclave and launching a ground offensive in its north.
Israel said 11听滨蝉谤补别濒颈s had returned to the country from the Gaza Strip on Monday, bringing to 69 the total of听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听and foreign聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听the Islamist听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽group has听蹿谤别别诲听since Friday under the聽truce.
The White House and Qatari negotiators said on Monday the original four day pause in fighting, due to expire at 0500 GMT on Tuesday, had聽聽for two听尘辞谤别听days.
Israel has not commented on any agreement to extend the truce but, in what may be an implicit confirmation, the听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听prime minister’s office said the government approved the addition of 50 female听辫谤颈蝉辞苍别谤蝉听to its list of听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s for potential release if additional听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听are听蹿谤别别诲.
Israel previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10听尘辞谤别听丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听released, providing some respite from the war.
Israel’s government has received a list of聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听who are听别虫辫别肠迟别诲听to be released on Tuesday, Israel’s Army Radio reported, citing the听滨蝉谤补别濒颈听prime minister’s office.
The Axios news website reported the list contained 10听丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉. There was no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office.
CLASHES OUTSIDE PRISON
The Israel Prison Service said 33听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽辫谤颈蝉辞苍别谤蝉听were released on Monday from Israel’s Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and from a detention centre in Jerusalem, bringing the total number of听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s it has听蹿谤别别诲听since Friday to 150.
滨蝉谤补别濒颈听forces clashed with some of the dozens of听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s who gathered outside Ofer prison to await the prisoner release, the听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽health ministry said.
Some of the protesters waved the flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽militant group.
The ministry said a听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽was killed in the area, and that it was unclear if he had participated in the clashes.听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽media reported he was shot dead. Israel had no immediate comment on the incident.
In response to the Oct. 7 attack, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip and mounted a ground offensive in the north.听惭辞谤别听than 15,000听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s have been killed, Gaza’s Hamas-run government says, and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Each day since the truce began on Friday, Hamas has released some聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听while Israel has听蹿谤别别诲听some听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍s it holds. Of the 69聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听蹿谤别别诲听by Hamas were 51听滨蝉谤补别濒颈s and 18 foreigners.
Ido Dan, a relative of听滨蝉谤补别濒颈s Sahar Calderon, 16, and Erez Calderon, 12, spoke of the joy at their release on Monday mixed with anxiety about their father, Ofer, who is still being held.
“It is difficult to go from a state of endless anxiety about their fate to a state of relief and joy,” Dan said. “This is an exciting and heart-filling moment but … it is the beginning of a difficult rehabilitation process for Sahar and Erez, who are still young and have been through an unbearable experience.”
The US State Department said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken 聽Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates this week to discuss sustaining aid flows to Gaza and freeing all聽丑辞蝉迟补驳别蝉听as well as U.S. principles for the future of Gaza and the need for an independent听笔补濒别蝉迟颈苍颈补苍聽state.
The original truce agreement allowed听尘辞谤别听aid trucks into Gaza, where the civilian population faces shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine. An estimated 1.8 million of the territory’s 2.3 million population are internally displaced, according to the United Nations.
While describing the extension as “a glimpse of hope and humanity,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said two听尘辞谤别听days was not enough time to meet Gaza’s aid needs.
