JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel and Hamas yesterday agreed to extend their cease fire by another day, just minutes before it was set to expire. International pressure has mounted for the cease fire to continue as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign in Gaza that have killed thousands of Palestinians, uprooted three quarters of the population of 2.3 million and led to a humanitarian crisis.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his third visit to the region since the start of the war, is expected to press for further extensions of the truce and the release of more hostages.
“This process is producing results. It’s important, and we hope that it can continue,” he said.
Qatar, which has played a key role in mediating with Hamas, said the truce was being extended under the same terms as in the past, with Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for Israel’s release of 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The announcement followed a last-minute standoff, with Hamas saying Israel had rejected a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three who the group said were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israel later said Hamas submitted an improved list, paving the way for the extension.
Israel said it will maintain the truce until Hamas stops releasing captives, at which point it will resume its offensive aimed at eliminating the group. With Israeli troops holding much of northern Gaza, a ground invasion south – where most of Gaza’s population is now concentrated – will likely bring an escalating cost in Palestinian lives and destruction.
The Biden administration has told Israel that if it launches an offensive in the south, it must operate with far greater precision.
Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The toll is likely much higher, as officials have only sporadically updated the count since November 11 due to the breakdown of services in the north. The ministry said thousands more people are missing and feared dead under the rubble.
Israel said 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive. It claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.
For Palestinians in Gaza, the truce’s calm has been overwhelmed by the search for aid and by horror at the extent of destruction.
In the north, residents described entire residential blocks as leveled in Gaza City and surrounding areas.
The smell of decomposing bodies trapped under collapsed buildings fills the air, said Mohmmed Mattar, a 29-year-old resident of Gaza City who along with other volunteers searches for the dead under rubble or left in the streets.
In the south, the truce has allowed more aid to be delivered from Egypt, up to 200 trucks a day. But aid officials said it is not enough, given that most now depend on outside aid.
Overwhelmed United Nations-run shelters house over one million displaced people, with many sleeping outside in cold, rainy weather.
At a distribution centre in Rafah, large crowds line up daily for bags of flour but supplies run out quickly.
“Every day, we come here… we spend money on transportation to get here, just to go home with nothing,” said one woman in line, Nawal Abu Namous.
