Qatar announces extension of humanitarian truce for another day between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began on Friday and ended this Thursday, during which both sides exchanged hostages for prisoners.

“The Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement on extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for another day (today is Thursday) under the same previous conditions,” said Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari.

He noted that these conditions “represent a ceasefire and the flow of humanitarian aid,” and emphasized that extending the pause “was reached within the framework of joint mediation The State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States.”

The extension of the truce was announced by Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, where the Palestinian Islamist group has its political office. minutes before the temporary truce expired at 5:00 GMT.

This will be the seventh day of the humanitarian pause which came into force last Friday and allowed the fighting to cease for the first time since October 7, when Hamas carried out multiple attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240 and took them to the Gaza Strip.

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Since then 15,000 people died and 36,000 were injured Israel’s retaliatory bombing of the Gaza Strip, where authorities in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave estimate that about 7,000 more people are still missing, either unknown or believed to be trapped under the rubble.

During the first six days of the truce they were 210 Palestinian prisoners released from prison all women and children as part of a pact to exchange Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militias, while Hamas released 97 prisoners in the Gaza Strip. among them 73 Israelis and 24 foreigners.

The announcement to extend the pause for another day came a few hours after the US Secretary of State arrived in Israel. Antony Blinken, where he plans to discuss a possible extension of the truce secure the release of even more hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

There are believed to be about 145 captives still on the Strip.and the proposal to extend the truce would include an additional release of 10 people daily in exchange for Israel releasing 30 Palestinian prisoners.

(EFE)