JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas reached a last-minute agreement Thursday to extend their ceasefire in Gaza for another day to allow the release of more hostages and prisoners. But any further renewal of the ceasefire, now in its seventh day, could prove even more discouraging, with Hamas expected to set a higher price for many of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday afternoon, Hamas released two Israeli hostages who were returned to Israel. More are to follow, the Israeli military said. During the ceasefire, at least ten Israelis and other nationals were released daily in exchange for Israel’s release of at least 30 Palestinian prisoners.
International pressure has increased to continue the ceasefire as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombings and a ground campaign in Gaza killed thousands of Palestinians, displaced more than three-quarters of its 2.3 million residents and led to a humanitarian crisis .
Israel has promised to resume its offensive after the ceasefire expires.
And the talks appear to be getting tougher since Hamas has already released most of the women and children kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. The militants are expected to make higher demands in return for the release of scores of civilians and soldiers.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials on his third visit to the region since the war began, said he hoped the ceasefire could be extended and more hostages could be released.
“This process produces results. It is important and we hope it can continue like this,” he said.
According to Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, Qatar and Egypt, which played key roles in the mediation, are now trying to extend the agreement for another two days.
As news of the extension broke Thursday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on people waiting for buses on a main road to Jerusalem, killing at least three people and wounding several others, according to Israeli police.
The two attackers, brothers from a neighborhood in annexed East Jerusalem, were killed. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for the killings of women and children in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, as well as other Israeli “crimes.”
The attack did not appear to threaten the ceasefire in Gaza. But escalating violence – including Israeli raids – in the West Bank and East Jerusalem could blow back and shatter the calm in Gaza, even if those areas are not covered by the ceasefire. Israeli troops killed two Palestinian boys in a raid in Jenin on Wednesday, according to Palestinian health authorities. The Israeli military said separately that two Islamic Jihad fighters were killed in the raid.
Increasingly tense hostage talks
Netanyahu is under intense pressure from the hostages’ families to bring them home. But his far-right government partners are also urging him to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and could abandon his coalition if it appears he is making too many concessions.
Israel says it will maintain the ceasefire until Hamas stops releasing prisoners. It would then resume military operations to destroy the group, even as the Biden administration has urged it to be far more precise in resuming its offensive.
“As soon as Hamas stops releasing mothers, we will get the fathers. As soon as it stops releasing daughters, we will get the sons,” said Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy. “We will continue to exert unrelenting military pressure on Hamas to release everyone.”
The original ceasefire, which began on Friday and has now been extended twice, called for the release of women and children. Israeli officials say militants in the Gaza Strip are still holding around 30 women and children, all of whom would be released within days at the current rate.
It is not clear how many of the women could be soldiers. For soldiers and civilians still in captivity, Hamas is expected to demand the release of senior Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, something Israel has fiercely opposed in the past.
According to Israel, around 125 men are still being held hostage, including several dozen soldiers.
An Israeli official involved in hostage negotiations said talks about further extending the release of civilian men and soldiers were still preliminary and a deal would not be considered until all women and children were released. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions were ongoing.
The 210 Palestinians released, including at least seven Israeli Palestinians, were women and teenagers. The youths were primarily accused of throwing stones and firebombs during clashes with Israeli forces. Several of the women were arrested for pro-Palestinian social media posts that Israeli authorities said incited violence. Several were convicted by military courts of attempting to attack soldiers, some of whom were found with scissors or knives near security positions.
With Wednesday’s releases, a total of 73 Israelis, including people with dual nationality, were released during the ceasefire, most of whom appear physically healthy but shaken. Another 24 hostages – 23 Thais and one Filipino – were also released, including several men.
Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four hostages and the Israeli army rescued one. Two others were found dead in Gaza. On Thursday, the military confirmed the death of Ofir Tzarfati, believed to be one of the hostages, without providing further details. The 27-year-old attended a music festival on October 7 where at least 360 people were killed and several others were kidnapped.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed over 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and captured about 240 people in their wide-ranging attack in southern Israel that day. The authorities have so far only given approximate figures.
According to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which makes no distinction between civilians and combatants, Israel’s bombings and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and minors.
The death toll is likely much higher as officials have updated the figure only sporadically since November 11. The ministry says thousands more people are dying under the rubble.
Israel says 77 of its soldiers were killed in the ground offensive. It claims to have killed thousands of militants without providing evidence.
IN GAZA AN ANXIOUS CALM
During the lull in fighting, Palestinians in Gaza were filled with a search for help and horror at the scale of the destruction.
Residents described entire blocks of apartments in Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north being razed to the ground. The smell of rotting corpses trapped beneath collapsed buildings fills the air, said Mohammed Mattar, a 29-year-old city resident who searched for the dead along with other volunteers.
In the south, the ceasefire allowed more aid to be delivered from Egypt, up to 200 trucks per day. But humanitarian officials say this is not enough as most now rely on outside aid. Over a million displaced people have sought refuge in UN shelters, with many forced to sleep outside in cold, rainy weather due to overcrowding.
At a distribution center in Rafah, large crowds line up every day to collect bags of flour, but supplies are quickly running out.
“We come here every day,” said a woman in line, Nawal Abu Namous. “We spend money on transportation to get here, only to go home with nothing.”
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Jobain reported from Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Tel Aviv, Israel, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
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Complete AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.