The Israeli army and the Islamist group Hamas accused each other ofThe truce in force in the Gaza Strip was lifted on Tuesday. after an incident in the north of the enclave, in which several Israeli soldiers were wounded.

“For the last hour three explosive devices were detonated near Israeli Defense Forces personnel in two different locations in the northern Gaza Strip, violating the operational pause. In one of the places, the terrorists also opened fire on military personnel, who returned fire. As a result of the incidents, several soldiers were slightly injured,” an Israeli army spokesman said.

For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, condemned “Clear violation of the truce” by Israel during an episode of “friction on the ground”, although they clarified that they were “committed to a truce as long as the enemy maintains its commitments”.

“We call on the mediators to put pressure on the occupiers (Israel) to comply with all terms of the truce, both on the ground and in the air,” said brigade spokesman Abu Obeida, who acknowledged, however, that the group’s fighters “responded today to the violation” of the agreement by Israeli forces.

These episodes come in fifth day of temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after more than a month and a half of fighting.

Brokered agreement Qatar, Egypt and USA and which includes the exchange of hostages for prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, came into force on Friday morning and It was planned that it would last four days.

Yesterday, shortly before expiration, Qatar announced a two-day extension. during which the three elements of the pact are observed.

The release of captive hostages in Gaza is scheduled to continue on Tuesday. and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, which has already occurred in the past four days with the release of 69 Israeli and foreign hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Qatar will seek a second extension

Hours earlier, Qatar, a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, saidwill seek a second extension of the humanitarian truce, although he stressed that its success would depend on Hamas’s ability to free more hostages than those captured and taken to the Gaza Strip.

“Without a doubt, we will work intensively in the next 48 hours to achieve an extension to this truce.“This will be linked to Hamas confirming the possibility of releasing more hostages,” he said. The official representative of the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majed al-Ansari, stated this at a press conference.

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In addition, he stated that, having maintained contacts with both sides of the conflict, The second extension of the agreement still does not apply to military hostages. because the priority is “women and children, and then civilian men.”

He recalled that the first extension of the humanitarian pause, announced on Monday evening, and a possible extension, “This is based on the terms of the four-day truce,” he said. according to which “Hamas undertakes to release 10 hostages every day.” “Hamas says it will release 20 hostages today and tomorrow” Al-Ansari noted.

“The priority is children and women.“Then we hope to talk about civilians (…) later we’ll talk about the military (hostages),” he emphasized.

Al-Ansari, who thanked the “efforts of our partners” in the mediation, citing Egypt and USA, He called for “increased international pressure to achieve a ceasefire or at least a longer truce during which we continue negotiations to stop the violence.”

On who will retain control of the Gaza Strip after the war, the representative of Qatar, in whose country Hamas has its political office, said: “This is an internal Palestinian issue” although he emphasized Qatar’s willingness to mediate between Palestinian factions and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

“Such a solution must be purely Palestinian.” (…) we have been actively mediating between Palestinian brothers and will continue to do so,” he added.

(according to information from EFE)