- Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire by at least a further 24 hours.
- The news coincides with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel, his third since the war began.
- The visit took place as a shooting by Palestinian gunmen in West Jerusalem killed at least three people, Israeli police said.
Qatari and Egyptian negotiators are working on brokering a new two-day extension to the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, the head of Egypt's State Information Service said in a statement.
"There are ongoing Egyptian-Qatari contacts to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days, in an effort to cease fire, release more prisoners and detainees, and bring more humanitarian and relief aid into the Gaza Strip," the statement by said.
"The intense Egyptian-Qatari efforts have resulted in overcoming many obstacles, which was facing the implementation of the armistice agreement today," it added.
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The news coincides with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel, his third since the war began. The visit took place as a shooting by Palestinian gunmen in West Jerusalem killed at least three people, Israeli police said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire by at least a further 24 hours on Thursday morning, just minutes before the fragile truce hit its deadline.
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The pause in fighting, now in its seventh day, so far has seen almost 100 hostages released from Hamas' captivity in Gaza — just over 70 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals, mostly Thai agricultural workers — and 210 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli detention, as of Wednesday. Under the terms of the deal between the warring parties, three Palestinian prisoners are exchanged for every one Israeli hostage.
"The operational pause will continue in light of the mediators' efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework," the Israeli Defense Forces posted on its official X account on Thursday morning.
Qatar, a key mediator of the arrangement which has also been home to Hamas' political division since 2012, noted the continuation of humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza under the terms of the cease-fire.
"Palestinian and Israeli sides reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the same previous conditions, which are a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid, within the framework of the joint mediation of the State of Qatar," Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed Wednesday that one of the freed hostages was a dual Israeli-American national.
Top officials from Qatar, Egypt, the U.S. and Israel have been involved in the cease-fire talks, with many working to extend the deal that was meant to expire on Thursday morning. Both sides have accused the other of violating the pause in fighting at times.
Blinken visits Israel, stresses protection of Gaza civilians
Blinken met with government leaders in Israel during his third visit to the country since the outbreak of the war. He joined a meeting of Israel's war cabinet, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would brief the U.S.'s chief diplomat on the "next phase" of the war with Hamas.
Blinken also praised mediation efforts for the cease-fire, saying that "this process is producing results. It's important, and we hope that it can continue."
"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families," the secretary said. "And that should continue today. It's also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately."
Blinken also emphasized the need to protect civilians in Gaza, which has been hammered by Israeli bombardment for seven weeks.
The secretary of state "stressed the imperative of accounting for humanitarian and civilian protection needs in southern Gaza before any military operations there," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, adding that he "urged Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm."
Blinken later traveled to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Palestinian attack in Jerusalem kills 3, Israeli police say
The secretary of state's visit coincided with a violent attack by two Palestinian men at a bus stop at the entrance to West Jerusalem, which killed at least three people and wounded a further eight, according to Israeli police. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
"I just finished a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, shortly after Hamas murderers murdered Israelis here in Jerusalem," Netanyahu told press. "I told him: This is the same Hamas."
Blinken acknowledged the attack during his remarks in Israel, saying that the killings show "the threat from terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day. And like you, my heart goes out to the victims of this attack."
Palestinian authorities said Wednesday that Israeli troops killed two Palestinian children, an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old, in a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. Israel's military says the two people killed were militants. As of Wednesday, 242 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7 by Israeli forces or settlers, authorities in the occupied territory say.
Netanyahu has stressed that the war in Gaza will continue after the truce comes to an end, saying that it is the only way to achieve Israel's stated aim of "eliminating Hamas."
Israel's seven-week-old war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas is the bloodiest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict yet, and has killed more than 14,500 people in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to health authorities there.
Israel's air and land offensive was launched in retaliation to a terrorist attack by Hamas on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another roughly 240 taken hostage into Gaza. Israel authorities say that around 150 hostages remain there.
