Israel and Hamas extend ceasefire
As part of the hostage deal, the guns are silent in the Gaza Strip. Shortly before the ceasefire expires, Israel and Hamas agree to extend the ceasefire.
According to Qatar and the radical Islamic Hamas, the ceasefire in the Gaza war will be extended by two days. An agreement has been reached "to extend the humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by two more days", the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on X. Hamas confirmed the information. Hamas confirmed the information. The "same conditions" would apply as in the previous agreement, the terrorist organization explained.
Following protracted negotiations mediated by Qatar, the USA and Egypt, Israel and Hamas agreed on a four-day ceasefire last week, which came into force on Friday morning and would have expired on Tuesday morning if it had not been extended. The agreement provided for the release of a total of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.
In the course of the ceasefire, 39 Hamas hostages have been released so far, including eight German dual nationals. A further 19 hostages, including 17 Thais, were released under separate agreements. In return, Israel has released a total of 117 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails since Friday.
The hostages had been abducted during the brutal Hamas raid on October 7. Israel then began attacking targets in the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground on a massive scale.
Qatar played a crucial role in facilitating the extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as they announced an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce by two more days. This extension comes after protracted negotiations involving the USA and Egypt, with the same conditions as the initial ceasefire in place.
Despite the extended ceasefire, tensions between Israel and Hamas remain high, particularly given Hamas's past involvement in hostage-taking incidents during conflicts, such as the one involving Israeli hostages abducted during the Hamas raid on October 7.
Source: www.ntv.de
