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Hamas announced an agreement for two more days of ceasefire with Israel
November 27, 2023
Updated 1 hour ago
In a statement on Monday (27/11), Hamas said it had agreed with Qatar and Egypt to extend the current ceasefire with Israel for another two days. This would extend the period from four to six days. Israel has not yet confirmed the agreement.
Qatar, which mediated the negotiations, and the United States also said the ceasefire had been extended until Tuesday (28) and Wednesday (29).
Previously, both Hamas and Israel had expressed their willingness to extend the current agreement and allow the release of more hostages from the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian official told the BBC on Sunday that Hamas was prepared to release up to 40 more hostages, which would mean a fourday extension under the terms of the original deal with Israel.
It has been reported that Israel is moving toward a more gradual, daybyday approach. And the Israeli government has made clear that it is preparing to restart the war in Gaza at the end of the trial.
Hamas said in a press release that the ceasefire would continue “under the same conditions as previously established.”
The current ceasefire includes the release of a hostage by Hamas in exchange for the release of three Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
As part of the original fourday agreement, eleven more hostages kidnapped in Israel and 33 Palestinian prisoners were released after midnight on Tuesday (28) local time a total of 50 hostages (Israeli and other nationalities) and 150 Palestinian prisoners were released.
Among the Palestinian prisoners released this Tuesday are 30 children and three women.
Consequences of the ceasefire
Photo credit: Getty Images
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The video showed the release of Israeli hostages amid a humanitarian pause
In Israel, some fear that a prolonged pause could give Hamas time to regroup and organize its defenses before the war potentially resumes.
In Gaza, the pause allowed aid to be delivered as the humanitarian crisis sparked by weeks of Israeli bombing continues.
On the Palestinian side, there was great excitement among family members as they reunited with their detained loved ones.
On Saturday, BBC Arabic interviewed detained Marah Bakeer as she returned to her mother’s home in Jerusalem.
Bakeer was arrested in 2015 at the age of 16 and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for a knife attack on a border police officer.
“This agreement comes after the deaths of many people, which makes us unhappy and uncomfortable,” he said.
She said she was held in solitary confinement and had “no idea what was going on out there, no idea about the situation in Gaza.”