Israel and Hamas ceasefire extended

Israel and Hamas have decided to continue their ceasefire for one more day, just before it was going to end.

The short break in fighting will continue for another week after Qatar helped negotiate an agreement.

The agreement resulted in many hostages being set free by Hamas in exchange for releasing Palestinians from prisons and providing aid to Gaza.

On Wednesday night, 16 people who were held by Hamas were set free, and 30 Palestinians were also released.

Up to now, 102 Israeli hostages have been let go, and 210 Palestinian prisoners have been set free. Around 140 Israelis are still being held as prisoners.

Israel’s army said the short break in fighting will continue because people are working to free the hostages and follow the agreed plan.

The prime minister’s office said the truce will continue for another seven days. They got a new list of women and children who are being held as hostages, but didn’t say how many names are on the list. Hamas also said that they agreed to extend the truce for another week without giving more information.

The first agreement was supposed to last for four days, but it has been extended two times.

When the deal was made, Israel said they would stop fighting for one more day for every 10 hostages released.

Antony Blinken, who is in charge of US foreign affairs, said that the truce is working and should keep going.

“We have seen in the past week that hostages are coming home and reuniting with their families, which is very good,” he said during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

“It has also allowed more humanitarian help to reach the innocent people in Gaza who really need it. ”

On Wednesday, Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, said again that they will start fighting again once the truce is over.

“We will keep fighting until the very end, no matter what. ” This is what I believe, and everyone in the government and the army and the public supports it. This is exactly what we will do, he said on Wednesday.

Before the extension was approved, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that the Gaza Strip was experiencing a very serious humanitarian crisis.

He said he was glad to talk about continuing the truce, but he also said we need a real ceasefire for the sake of helping people.

The UN thinks that over 1. 8 million people in Gaza have left their homes in the last seven weeks. Around 60% of them are staying in 156 buildings that are owned by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.

Earlier this week, a doctor from the World Health Organization said they checked the shelters and found that many people were getting sick. The kids were getting diarrhea 100 times more than usual.

The truce has stopped the Israeli air strikes for now. They started after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking hundreds of hostages on 7 October.

Since then, Israel has attacked Gaza by air and on the ground and about 15,000 people have been killed. Children make up 40% of the people who have died. This information comes from health ministry officials in Gaza, which is controlled by the group Hamas. Big areas in the north of the Strip have been destroyed or badly damaged.