Can Hamas benefit from Gaza ceasefire? White House thinks it's a real risk

Israel-Hamas War: A Palestinian walks in Gaza City amid temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

The White House said that Hamas could benefit from Gaza ceasefire as it welcomed the the extension of the humanitarian pause in the territory. “It’s a real risk,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said adding that US hopes Americans will be among the 20 hostages to be released next as eight to nine US citizens are believed to still be among those being held.

Conditioning aid to Israel is a worthwhile thought but that US president Joe Biden believes his approach is working, the spokesman asserted. Israel and Hamas agreed to prolong a truce in Gaza as it was about to expire, mediator Qatar said. Hostage and prisoner exchanges were set to continue as both Hamas and Israel had been under international pressure to avoid a return to battle.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said “an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.”

Read more: What White House said on Israel-Hamas truce extension: ‘We hope to see…’

Hamas confirmed “that an agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt for an extension of the temporary humanitarian pause for an additional two days, with the same conditions as the previous truce.”

The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had informed families of the identities of hostages to be released on Monday. Israel has been clear that the pause is designed to allow Hamas to free more of the hostages it is holding since the October 7 attack in which 1,200 Israelis, including many women and children, were killed. In Gaza, Israel’s campaign against Hamas has left almost 15,000 dead, mostly Palestinian civilians.

Earlier, US president Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg urging the parties to extend their temporary break in fighting.

“That’s our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief in to those in need,” Joe Biden said while Josep Borrell called for the pause to be prolonged “to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution.”

“Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians,” he said.

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