Egypt, Qatar close to securing Gaza truce extension

Egypt and Qatar are close to reaching a deal to extend Israel’s truce with Gaza by two days, said the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan.

The two-day extension would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian detainees, he said.

With the release of 11 Israeli hostages expected on Monday, negotiations continue for the release of 33 Palestinians, Rashwan added.

Earlier, Hamas was reported to be seeking a four-day extension while Israel wanted day-by-day extensions.

An Israeli official reiterated Israel’s position that it would agree to an extra day of truce for the release of each group of 10 hostages. In exchange, three times the number of Palestinian prisoners would be released each time. The limit would be five days, the official added.

Yesterday, the United Nations said 61 trucks carrying medical supplies, food and water had delivered their payloads in northern Gaza, as a pause in fighting allows aid to enter the besieged coastal territory.

Another 200 trucks had been dispatched to the Gaza Strip from Nitzana, Israel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement, with 187 of them having made it past the border by the early evening local time.

Eleven ambulances, three coaches and a flatbed were delivered to Al-Shifa hospital, which had seen heavy fighting in recent days, “to assist with evacuations,” the statement said.

“The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send in and across Gaza,” it added, thanking the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent groups.

It is pertinent to mention here that the truce agreed last week was the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas fighters snatched the captives when they broke through Gaza’s militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.

In response to the deadliest attack in its history, Israel launched an air, artillery and naval offensive to destroy Hamas, killing about 15,000 people, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.