An Egyptian security source told Agence France-Presse, “Hamas informed it of its agreement and desire to extend the truce for four days, but is awaiting Israel’s approval in this regard.”
The source added, “Israel still wants to extend the truce, but it must be agreed to renew it every day,” stressing that “the mediators are making very intense efforts to succeed in extending the truce and ceasefire for several days.”
For its part, the Israeli government announced that it had presented an “option” to Hamas to extend the truce, according to an Israeli government spokesman.
Government spokesman Elon Levy told reporters, “We want to receive 50 additional hostages after tonight, on our way to bring everyone back.”
Hamas announced on Sunday night that it was seeking to “extend the truce after the end of the four-day period” with the aim of “increasing the number of detainees released” as stated in the truce agreement.
A source close to Hamas told AFP on Sunday that the movement “informed the mediators that the resistance factions agreed to extend the current truce for between two to four days.”
It was agreed upon with Qatari mediation, with the participation of the United States and Egypt, on a four-day truce starting Friday, during which fifty Hamas hostages would be released in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Since Friday, 39 hostages have been released under the agreement – in addition to 24 hostages from outside the agreement, most of whom are Thais working in Israel – as well as 117 Palestinian detainees.
The truce can be extended on the condition that the Palestinian movement releases ten additional hostages every day, in exchange for the release of more Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced Monday that it is reviewing a list of names of the next group of hostages that will be released later Monday.
In Qatar, a source familiar with the talks confirmed, “There is a slight problem with today’s lists. The Qataris are working with both sides to resolve it and avoid delays.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to ask the government on Monday for a “war” budget worth 30 billion shekels (7.3 billion euros). On Sunday, from Gaza, he stressed the importance of achieving “victory” during the first visit to the Strip by an Israeli prime minister since the withdrawal from it in 2005.
Calls for extending the truce
In Barcelona, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for extending the truce between Israel and Hamas in order to work on a “political solution” to the conflict.
Borrell stressed at the opening of a meeting of the “Union for the Mediterranean” forum in Barcelona that this truce, which he described as an “important first step”, “must be extended” and transformed into a “permanent” truce to allow work on a political solution.
For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in Spanish, “There is no other solution but to stop the war and reach a ceasefire and work to extend it to become permanent,” stressing that “we must stop counting the bodies.”
He added, “We have an opportunity today,” and “We are all working to extend this truce for a day, two or three days. We do not know, but the most important thing is to extend it (…) in order to save the lives of innocent people.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also stated, “I call for an extension of the truce. This will allow (the entry of) more aid that the people of Gaza need and for the release of more hostages.”
Among those released on Sunday was the child Abigail, who holds American citizenship and is in her fourth year. She lost her parents during the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7.
A senior American official said that Abigail’s mother was killed in front of her and that her father tried to protect her before he was killed in turn. The child then fled to the home of a neighboring family but was taken hostage.
US President Joe Biden announced that the child had “succumbed to a terrible shock,” expressing, like France, his desire to extend the truce.
Netanyahu, who spoke with Biden, said that Abigail “no longer has family, but she has a whole country that embraces her. We will take good care of her.”
Netanyahu added that there are arrangements “to release ten more hostages every day, and this is a blessing. But I also told the president that after the agreement we will return to our goal: eliminating Hamas and making sure that the Gaza Strip is no longer what it was” in the past.
Releasing the prisoners
In the occupied West Bank, buses belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross transported the liberated prisoners on Sunday to Ramallah and Beitunia, and they were received by crowds waving the flags of Palestine, Hamas, and other factions.
In Beitunia, the young man Yazan Sabah, who was released as part of the truce, said that he felt happy and confused at the same time, adding, “I am sad for our martyrs and happy for the victory achieved by our resistance.”
The attack launched by Hamas on October 7 killed 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, most of whom died on the first day of the attack, according to the Israeli authorities. During its attack, Hamas took 240 hostages, who were transported to Gaza, according to the Israeli army.
How did the war begin?
Israel responded with intense bombing of the Gaza Strip, which since October 27 was accompanied by extensive ground operations inside the Strip, causing the death of approximately 15,000 people, including more than six thousand children, according to the Hamas government. The Civil Defense in Gaza estimates the number of missing people at about seven thousand people.
Although the truce provided a brief period of calm for the residents of Gaza, the humanitarian situation in the Strip remains “dangerous” and the needs “unprecedented,” according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Since Friday, 248 trucks carrying aid have been able to enter the Strip, according to the United Nations.
UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told AFP, “We have to send 200 trucks daily for at least two months to meet the needs,” adding that “there is no drinking water or food” in some areas.
In Khan Yunis (south), Palestinian Bilal Diab told Agence France-Presse, “They are talking about bringing aid and fuel, but I have been at the gas station for nine hours and it is still closed.”
The Israeli army, which considers the northern third of the Gaza Strip a war zone, had ordered residents to leave and prevented anyone from returning during the truce.
Returning to Gaza
Despite this warning, thousands of displaced Gazans took advantage of the truce to try to return to their homes in the north.
In Gaza City, which turned into a field of devastation, residents walked on Sunday through dust among piles of rubble and destroyed buildings, according to pictures shown by France-Presse.
More than half of the housing stock in the Strip was damaged or destroyed due to the war, according to the United Nations, while 1.7 million out of a population of 2.4 million were displaced.
Israel has imposed an “absolute siege” on the Strip, which has been subject to a siege since Hamas came to power in 2007, and has cut off water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel.
On Monday, two UN human rights experts called for independent investigations into “allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity” by all parties since October 7.
