The Israel-Hamas truce has seen yet another extension, albeit for just 24 hours.
The announcement came just minutes before the truce was set to expire.
The pause expired at 7am local time (05:00 GMT).
The Israeli military announced that the truce with Hamas will continue “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement.”
In a separate statement, Hamas said an agreement has been reached to extend the truce for a seventh day.
Until the last hour, the prospect of an extension of the truce was in question after the two sides failed to agree on the new list of Israelis to be released from Gaza.
Qatar confirmed that the truce will be extended by one day, that is until Friday, December 1, 2023.
“Palestinian and Israeli sides reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the same previous conditions, which are a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid, within the framework of the joint mediation of the State of Qatar, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement.
The announcement brought some relief to the majority of Palestinians who were fearful and frustrated for not receiving any confirmation on the ceasefire extension on Wednesday night.
Prior to the announcement, Hamas’ armed wing had told its fighters in the Gaza Strip to be ready to resume battles with Israel if a temporary truce set to expire in under two hours was not renewed.
“The Al-Qassam Brigades asks its active forces to maintain high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce,” the militant group said in a statement.
Fighters should “remain on such footing unless an official statement is issued confirming the extension of the truce,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, tensions have escalated as Israeli forces have conducted near daily raids and increased the number of arrests.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society stated that at least 40 Palestinians were arrested Wednesday night in the occupied West Bank.
The advocacy group added that from October 7, the number of arrests has reached 3,365.
Blinken Says Truce “Producing Results”
U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken who is currently in Israel, said that the truce between Israel and Hamas is “producing results” and should continue.
“We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families,” he said at a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.
“It’s also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately. So this process is producing results. It’s important and we hope that it can continue.”
This is the fourth time that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Israel since the start of the war on Gaza.
Blinken will be meeting with Netanyahu in West Jerusalem, and he’ll also be meeting with the war cabinet.
Part of the purpose of this trip is to find a way to a sustained ceasefire and to find a path to continue to work towards the release of the remaining people being held hostage, as well as an action plan that Blinken is expected to outline for Palestinians following the end of the conflict.
The U.S is seeking to influence Israel by calling on it to narrow the combat zone, for military operations to be more precise in the targeting of Hamas to minimise civilian casualties.
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