Gaza Truce Extended by Two Days
By Staff, Agencies
The ‘humanitarian pause’ in the ‘Israeli’ war on Gaza, due to expire on Monday evening, has been extended by another 48 hours, according to the foreign ministry of Qatar, which mediated the deal.
“The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,” foreign ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said in a post on X [formerly Twitter].
Shortly thereafter, Hamas issued a statement confirming that the truce had been extended, crediting Qatar and Egypt for the mediation.
“I hope we can extend until we reach the end of this war and aggression on our people in Gaza,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the group’s political bureau, told Al Jazeera.
The ‘Tel Aviv’ regime has not commented on the extension yet. However, a White House official told AJ that the ‘Israeli’ entity had agreed to it. According to Al Jazeera, the extension was approved in exchange for the release of 20 more ‘Israelis’ held as captives by Hamas since October 7.
Qatar also announced it was sending five more cargo planes, carrying some 156 tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza, to the Egyptian city of El-Arish.
Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Gaza after the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in the ‘Israeli’-occupied Palestinian territories.
Th Zionist military bombed Gaza for weeks, before sending ground forces into the enclave. Over 16,000 Palestinians have been martyred during the conflict, according to local authorities.
A ‘humanitarian pause’ was arranged last week, amid growing international pressure on ‘Israel’. Hamas has since released 39 ‘Israeli’ captives, as well as two dozen more captives under a separate arrangement. ‘Israel’ has released 117 Palestinian detainees.
