Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza extended by 2 days, more hostages may be released on Nov 28

CAIRO/JERUSALEM – A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was extended by two days to Nov 29, mediator Qatar said.

It raised the prospect that the Palestinian militant group would free more hostages beyond the 69 who have been released since the truce began on Nov 24.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that the government has received a list of hostages expected to be released on Nov 28. The report cited the Israeli prime minister’s office.

The Axios news website reported the list included 10 hostages.

There was no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office.

The truce is the first pause in a war that has lasted more than seven weeks so far.

The latest escalation of violence was sparked after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct 7. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage.

It vowed to destroy Hamas and launched an aerial and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, which the armed group controls. Officials in the enclave say the Israeli operation has killed more than 15,000 people.

Each day since the four-day truce began, Hamas has released some of the hostages, while Israel has freed some of the Palestinians in its prisons.

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Israel previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released, providing some respite to Palestinians in the Mediterranean seaside strip from the war.

“An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,” a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said in a post on social media platform X on Nov 27. Hamas also said it had agreed to a two-day extension.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, but a White House official confirmed the agreement had been reached.

United States President Joe Biden thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Qatar and Egypt – who have facilitated indirect talks between Israel and Hamas – for a pact that would free more hostages and allow more aid into Gaza.

On Nov 27, the Israeli military said 11 Israeli hostages – the latest to be freed under the terms of the original truce that was due to end on Monday – had arrived in Israel.

Qatar said the newly released hostages, all dual citizens, included three with French nationality, two with German nationality and six Argentinian citizens.

Hamas said earlier that it had received a list of 33 Palestinians to be released from Israeli jails in return. They included three female prisoners and 30 minors.

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With the latest releases, Hamas has freed a total of 69 people since Nov 24, including both Israelis and non-Israelis.

Under the terms of the original truce, Hamas was due to release 50 Israeli women and children held in Gaza.

There was no limit in the deal on the number of foreigners it could release.

Prior to the latest releases, an Israeli spokesman said the total number of hostages still held in Gaza on Nov 27 was 184, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual nationality.

US national security spokesman John Kirby said on CNN that the White House did not believe any Americans would be among the latest group to be freed from Gaza, where Washington says seven to nine US citizens are being held.

A senior US official said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates this week.

He is to discuss sustaining aid flows to Gaza and freeing all hostages, as well as US principles for the future of Gaza and the need for an independent Palestinian state.

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Humanitarian crisis

None of the announcements specified how many hostages would be released under the extended agreement.

But the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, Mr Diaa Rashwan, said earlier that the deal being negotiated would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Mr Netanyahu said at the weekend that once the truce ends, “we will return with full force to achieve our goals: the elimination of Hamas; ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages.”

Since the start of the war on Oct 7, wide areas of Gaza have been flattened by Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardments, and a humanitarian crisis has unfolded as supplies of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run out.

The truce has allowed for aid trucks to enter Gaza.

A United Nations flag is attached to one of the trucks carrying aid waiting to head towards north Gaza during a temporary truce, in the central Gaza Strip, on Nov 27, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the extension of the truce as “a glimpse of hope and humanity”, but said two days was not enough time to meet Gaza’s aid needs.

“I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much – knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population,” Mr Guterres told reporters.

Palestinians in Gaza had earlier said they were praying for an extension of the truce.

Some were visiting homes reduced to rubble by weeks of intensive Israeli bombardment, while others queued for flour and other essential aid being delivered by the United Nations relief agency UNRWA.

A young Palestinian surveys the rubble of destroyed homes in the town of Al-Maghazi, during the second day of a temporary truce in the central Gaza Strip on Nov 25, 2023. PHOTO: NYTIMES

Displaced Palestinian woman Um Mohammed said life was hard for people still living in the north of the enclave, which has borne the brunt of Israel’s ground invasion so far.

“People up there are searching for food. People want to live, to secure themselves for the coming days, because they are afraid, so they’re securing what they can,” she said. “And if you ask if they are restful or at peace, they are not.” REUTERS