Deadline for ceasefire in Gaza war approaching
In the Gaza war, negotiations on a further extension of the ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas continued shortly before the deadline expired. It is questionable whether there will be an extension, there is still no agreement, said Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman a few hours before the deadline expired.
The negotiations may have become more difficult as most of the women and children abducted to Gaza have now been released. Hamas could now demand significantly more Palestinian prisoners from Israel's jails in return for men and soldiers. The ceasefire was expected to end at 06:00 CET.
More Germans released
The terrorist organization released another 16 hostages on Wednesday. As in the previous days, these were ten Israelis, the Israeli army announced on Wednesday. Among them are three Germans, confirmed Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). In return, Israel released another group of 30 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, as the Israeli prison authorities announced that night.
Guterres calls for ceasefire
A further extension of the ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza war is not enough, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He is calling for a "genuine humanitarian ceasefire". Guterres wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday evening: "Negotiations are underway to extend the ceasefire - which we very much welcome - but we need a genuine humanitarian ceasefire".
Biden: want to secure the release of all hostages
US President Joe Biden thanked Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "for their continued partnership in this process and their ongoing commitment to bring all hostages home and provide more aid to the innocent people of Gaza," the statement said.
The US remains "committed to securing the release of all those taken hostage by Hamas during its brutal terrorist attack on Israel on October 7," the US President continued in the statement. Biden did not elaborate on a possible extension of the ceasefire in the statement. His Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously promised to "do everything in our power to extend the ceasefire". According to his own statements, he will be in Israel again.
A ceasefire has been in place since Friday, during which hostages taken to Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel were exchanged. The ceasefire was recently extended by two days. It would therefore expire in the morning without being extended again. According to the original agreement between the warring parties, the ceasefire could be extended to a maximum of ten days.
Israel: Will continue the war against Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in a statement that fighting would resume when "this phase of the return of our hostages is complete". Army spokesman Spielman also stated that they were ready to continue the military operation to completely destroy Hamas if the current deadline expired.
Meanwhile, according to the Red Crescent, there were clashes in the West Bank between soldiers and people waiting for the Palestinians to return home. There are said to have been injuries. Several Palestinians had previously been killed in an Israeli anti-terrorist operation in the occupied West Bank.
The ceasefire so far has improved the provision of aid to the Gaza Strip, explained UN Secretary-General Guterres. However, the amount of aid is still not enough to meet the enormous needs of more than two million people, Guterres wrote on X. Civilians need a continuous flow of life-saving humanitarian aid into and throughout the area.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, committed by terrorists from the Gaza Strip on October 7 in Israel near the border. More than 1200 people were killed. Around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza, including several Germans. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a blockade of the Gaza Strip. At the end of October, its armed forces began a ground offensive. According to Hamas, almost 15,000 people were killed and more than 36,000 injured. The figures cannot currently be independently verified.
What will be important today
The extended ceasefire expires in the morning. Whether it will be extended remains to be seen. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Blinken is expected to return to Israel for talks.
Source: www.dpa.com
