• Source:REUTERS
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Qatar’s foreign ministry on Monday said that the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip has been extended for two more days. This comes as an initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire. "An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Hamas also announced that it had agreed on a two-day extension to the truce with Qatar and Egypt, who have been mediating indirect talks between the two sides. "An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce," a Hamas official told news agency Reuters.

Over the time of the humanitarian pause in warfare and the weeks before, Qatar with the cooperation of the US and Egypt,  has been deeply involved in negotiations to establish and extend the Gaza truce, which the mediators had stated was intended to be broadened and expanded, as reported by news agency AFP.

Nearly 50 civilian hostages, including women and children, were expected to be released by Hamas during the initial truce. In exchange, Israel agreed to free 150 Palestinian prisoners and allowed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

As part of the agreement between the two parties, Hamas released as many as 39 Israeli hostages during its first three days in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, news agency AFP reported. The Palestinian group has also released 17 Thais, one Filipino, and one dual Russian-Israeli person as a result of parallel negotiations led by the Gulf state. 

The truce comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approval of the accord following a meeting and told ministers that this was a “difficult decision but it’s a right decision.” Hamas also welcomed the move and called it a ‘humanitarian truce’ which would release Palestinians from Israeli prisons. 

Earlier on October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched unprecedented ground, air, and sea attacks on Israel. In retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces launched multiple attacks and a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that resulted in several casualties.