The government of Qatar, the main mediator in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, announced on Monday afternoon a two-day extension of the ceasefire that began last Friday morning. Both Hamas and the United States confirmed this a few minutes later. Neither the government nor the Israeli army would officially confirm the information, although a source consulted by Haaretz newspaper assured approval of the agreement. Should Israel’s yes be confirmed, the ceasefire widely demanded by the international community to halt the intensity of the conflict in Gaza would be extended until early Thursday morning and the daily exchange of hostages in the hands of Gaza militants for prisoners would continue. Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
“An agreement has been reached with the brothers Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian ceasefire for two more days, under the same conditions as the previous ceasefire,” a source in the Palestinian fundamentalist movement told Portal. Some people in charge are already thinking about further goals. “I hope we can extend it until we reach the end of this war and the end of the aggression against our people in Gaza,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ political office, optimistically commented to the Al Jazeera network. Hamad believes that this is what Western governments want, in addition to supporting Qatar and Egypt as mediators.
These exchanges will basically maintain the same pace, with 20 more abductees expected to be released and 60 prisoners regaining their freedom between Tuesday and Wednesday. This Monday, the fourth and final day of the ceasefire agreed last week, optimism grew, which was finally confirmed as the parties prepared the fourth exchange under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross. On Monday evening, the Israeli army confirmed that 11 hostages had been returned to Israel, while that country’s authorities had to release 33 Palestinian prisoners.
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The wind was blowing in favor of this extension, as both Israel and Hamas made it clear that they wanted an extension of the agreement. They have been under pressure from the international community, which sees the current bracket as a necessary opportunity for the army to halt its attacks in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre that sparked the conflict that left nearly 15,000 dead in Gaza to resume. This desire to extend the ceasefire was pushed by both the main mediators – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – as well as the European Union, NATO and the United Nations through their Secretary General António Guterres.
Pressure on Netanyahu
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Pressure also came from a domestic political perspective on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly from the families of the approximately 180 hostages estimated to still be in the Palestinian Mediterranean enclave (including those who may have died at the time) and For those , for whom your return home is their top priority. Even the Palestinian Authority (PNA), which implements the West Bank but not Gaza’s plans, expressed support for extending the cessation of hostilities, which would also give Gaza’s punished population more time to gather supplies. before a possible return of the bombings.
A Palestinian woman and a girl walk through the mud as they leave the northern Gaza Strip to head south, during the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas this Monday.IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA (Portal)
An Israeli army sniper controls this Monday the area in Gaza City that is part of the secure transit corridors that Israel has established for the movement of Palestinians. Ashraf Amra (Anadolu/Getty Images)
Khalil Zamaara, who was released from Israeli prison on Sunday, will reunite with his family this Monday in Hebron, in the West Bank, following the prisoner exchange agreed between Israel and Hamas. Mamoun Wazwaz (Anadolu/Getty Images)
Tycoon Elon Musk (left) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit this Monday to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, hit by the Hamas attack on October 7. DPA via Europa Press (DPA via Europa Press)
Dozens of people gathered this Monday to receive bags of flour distributed by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA (Portal)
A Palestinian woman brushes a girl’s hair as well as some of the belongings they were able to recover after the destruction in the town of Khuzaa, near Khan Yunis, this Monday. SAID KHATIB (AFP)
Palestinian Samy Al Bahnasawy next to the body of his wife, who died in hospital in Egypt as a result of the war, as they crossed the border from Rafah back to Gaza this Monday. Amr Nabil (AP)
Dozens of Palestinians enjoyed a day on the beach in Deir al Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip, this Monday during the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EMPLOYEES (Portal)
Palestinians inspect the damage to their homes caused by Israeli attacks in the town of Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis, this Monday during the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas.SAID KHATIB (AFP)
A Palestinian woman presented her ration card in Khan Yunis this Monday to receive bags of flour distributed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA). IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA (Portal)
Palestinians flee the north of the Strip towards the south as several ambulances head north near Gaza City this Monday, the fourth day of the ceasefire. IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA (Portal)
A child held a cat next to the rubble of several buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis this Monday.MOHAMMED SALEM (Portal)
A man carried several bags of flour distributed by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Khan Yunis this Monday. IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA (Portal)
Several Palestinians walked this Monday through the rubble of houses destroyed after the Israeli attacks in Khan Younis. MOHAMMED SALEM (Portal)
A group of Palestinians evacuated from the Gaza Strip waited in a bus after landing at Abu Dhabi airport this Monday as part of a humanitarian mission organized by the United Arab Emirates.KARIM SAHIB (AFP)
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, upon his arrival at the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM) Forum held this Monday in Barcelona. JOSEP LAGO (AFP)
View of the meeting of the Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM), which analyzes the situation in the Middle East due to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, at its annual meeting held this Monday in Barcelona.Quique García (EFE)
The Israeli authorities had expressed their desire to extend the ceasefire day by day while the mediating countries try to reach a more ambitious agreement over several days, which was the case, according to an Egyptian security source quoted by France Presse Agency. According to the same agency, Hamas had proposed an extension from two to four days. Egyptian government spokeswoman Diaa Rashwan noted that the parties were close to ending the ceasefire for two more days in exchange for 20 hostages leaving Gaza and Israel releasing 60 more prisoners. In the first three days of the ceasefire, the Islamic Resistance Movement released 54 hostages and Israeli authorities released 117 Palestinian prisoners.
In any case, Israel maintains that it will continue its attacks on Gaza once the hostages are returned to put an end to Hamas. “If you want peace, destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu insisted after accompanying social network X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk on his visit to one of the sites of Hamas attacks on October 7.
Contrary to the statements of released Palestinian prisoners, Israel carefully guards the information that hostages bring back from their weeks of captivity. For example, it turned out that Roni Krivoi, the Russian-Israeli citizen released on Sunday evening, managed to escape his captors and remained in hiding for four days before being captured again, as his aunt Elena Magid explained, Times of Israel reports citing on Radio Kan.
The young man, who Hamas released as a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in a building that had been partially destroyed after one of the bombings and took the opportunity to escape. “He managed to escape and hid alone for several days. In the end, the Gazans captured him and returned him to the terrorists,” Magid said.
Meanwhile, the hardline wing of Netanyahu’s executive branch defends further increasing the presence of settlers – about half a million – in the occupied territories of Palestine. In this sense, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called this Monday for an allocation of around 1.2 billion euros to be made for these settlements considered illegal and for the Jewish community, despite the limitations that the war imposes on the country. ultra-Orthodox. This push for the colonies comes at a time when their residents are actively involved in increasing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The measure was sharply criticized by ANP Foreign Minister Riad Al Maliki. “Extremist members of the Israeli cabinet, supported by some influential countries, are taking advantage of the genocidal war against Gaza to create new fait accompli on the ground in the occupied West Bank,” he denounced in a statement quoted by the official Palestinian agency Wafa.
Biden assures that he has “constantly pushed” to facilitate the release of hostages
Macarena Vidal Liy
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, was personally involved in the negotiations for the release of the hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, as he wrote on his official account on X, the old Twitter. “I have consistently pushed for a pause to accelerate and expand humanitarian assistance to Gaza and to facilitate the release of hostages. “I remain in contact with the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Israel to ensure that every aspect of the agreement is put into practice,” he tweeted.
That same weekend, the president had a telephone conversation with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hada Al Thani – mediator in the negotiations – and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby assured that Biden would “continue to make calls” and contact parties involved in the negotiations to make progress. Although Washington wants the pause to last until all hostages are released, it maintains its opposition to a ceasefire. The danger of Hamas benefiting from this type of measure or even from humanitarian breaks is “real,” but it is a matter of weighing the disadvantages and advantages, the spokesman said.
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