Israel And Hamas Agree To A 2-Day Extension Of The Truce In Gaza

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 48-hour extension of their truce, allowing for further exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and opening the door for more humanitarian aid to flow into the embattled Gaza Strip, according to Qatar's foreign ministry.

"The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," the chief spokesman for Qatar's foreign ministry wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Qatar has been a key broker in the negotiations over the temporary cease-fire, along with Egypt and the U.S. In a statement, Hamas confirmed the agreement for another two days "under the same conditions as the previous truce."

Israel did not immediately comment on the expanded deal, but previously indicated that it could prolong the cease-fire for up to 10 days in total if Hamas continues freeing some of the around 240 captives it seized in last month's attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

The extension comes on what would have been the last day of the previously negotiated hostages-for-prisoners swaps. On Monday, Egypt's state information service head, Diaa Rashwan, said Hamas was expected to release 11 Israeli hostages and "negotiations are underway to release 33 Palestinians from the Israeli side."

After Sunday night's exchange of another 17 hostages by Hamas for an additional 39 Palestinians jailed by Israel — the third of four such daily swaps agreed to as part of the original cease-fire deal — there were already signs that lengthening the timeframe was in the works.

U.S. President Biden also said Sunday that his administration is working with Qatar, which brokered the truce, and other negotiators to extend the pause.

So far, 3 Palestinians released for every Israeli set free

Among those released so far are 17 Thai laborers seized in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, as well as one Filipino. A dual Israeli-Russian citizen was freed on Sunday after what Hamas described in a statement as the "efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause."

In seven weeks of Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults in Gaza, more than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and youth, according to Palestinian health officials. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reports a higher death toll, but it does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

So far, the daily swaps have proceeded on a ratio of three Palestinians for every Israeli set free, an arrangement likely to continue now that the deal will be prolonged.

There are growing signs that anger over the war in Gaza and elation at the release of scores of jailed Palestinians is fueling Hamas' popularity in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Speaking to NPR last week, Dana Hafi, a 21-year-old resident of the Qalandiya refugee camp in Ramallah, said she didn't want to talk about politics, but then added, "but Hamas is the only thing left fighting for Palestinians." If Israel crushes Hamas, "they will crush all Palestinians," she said.

Umm Mohammed, another resident of Qalandiya, said she doesn't want war. "No one wants war," the 55-year-old said.

"People want their children to live, to grow up and learn and become doctors and engineers," she said. But speaking of Israeli soldiers, Mohammed said, "when they come, evict you from your home, from your land, where are we meant to go?"

Michael Barsinai, from Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the hardest hit Israeli communities in the Oct. 7 attack, told NPR Sunday that he supports an extension of the the cease-fired deal, "as long as we get hostages back, that's fine," he said. "We remember all those that are still there."

Israeli youth groups wave Israeli flags as a helicopter with hostages released earlier by Hamas lands at Schneider medical center on Sunday.

(

Alexi J. Rosenfeld

/

Getty Images

)

One hostage, Elma Avraham, 84, who was released by Hamas on Sunday, was flown by helicopter directly from Gaza due to a serious medical condition, Israeli media reports. She remains in an intensive care unit "and her life is still in danger," according to The Times of Israel.

Other hostages report losing weight during their 50 days in captivity, surviving mostly on bread and rice. Some slept on rows of chairs and many were held underground.

Pause in fighting enables delivery of humanitarian aid

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in its latest update, says the temporary cease-fire "has been largely maintained."

"This pause has enabled the U.N. to enhance the delivery of assistance into and across Gaza," it said.

OCHA said it was not immediately clear how many aid trucks got into Gaza on Sunday, but that on the previous day, it was around 200.

But the result of Israel's relentless military campaign in Gaza in the lead up to the pause has been described by the agency in desperate terms. It says nearly 80% of the territory's 2.2 million have been internally displaced as a result of the seven weeks of fighting.

Since the assault on Gaza began in the wake of the Hamas attack, Israel's military has focused operations in the north of the territory, warning Gazans to flee south to avoid being injured or killed.

It said that overcrowding and poor sanitation at shelters administered by UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency that oversees the Palestinian territories, have caused "significant increases in some communicable diseases and conditions such as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections and hygiene-related conditions like lice."

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), UNRWA said, "Aid distribution south of Wadi #Gaza has been accelerated over the past 4 days including water, food, medicine, blankets & more."

It says the Gaza Strip has been under an electricity blackout since Israeli authorities cut power, and fuel reserves to the territory's sole power plant are depleted. The supply of potable water in Gaza's south, part of which comes by way of two pipelines from Israel, has continued, OCHA says, while UNRWA was getting fuel supplies to help run two seawater desalination plants that also supply the south.

Meanwhile, citing the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, OCHA says the market price of vegetables has surged 32%, with wheat and flour up 65%. The price of mineral water, it said, had doubled since the conflict began.

NPR's Lauren Frayer reported from Ramallah in the West Bank and Brian Mann contributed from Tel Aviv.