GAZA/JERUSALEM: Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday (Nov 30) to extend their six-day ceasefire by one more day to allow negotiators to keep working on deals to swap hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.
The truce has allowed much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million was reduced to wasteland in response to a deadly rampage by Hamas militants into southern Israel on Oct 7.
“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue,” the Israeli military said in a statement, released minutes before the temporary truce was due to expire at 0500 GMT (1pm Singapore time).
Hamas, which freed 16 hostages in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, said in a statement that the truce would continue for a seventh day.
The conditions of the ceasefire, including the halt of hostilities and the entry of humanitarian aid, remain the same, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson from Qatar, which has been a key mediator between the warring sides, along with Egypt and the United States.
In one outbreak of violence, at least six people were wounded in a shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
Police said two suspected attackers “were neutralised on the spot”.
Before the agreement, both Israel and Hamas had said they were preparing to resume fighting as negotiations over the next batch of hostages to be released hit an impasse.
“A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement just as the truce was due to expire.
Source: CNA
