Hamas would be ready to extend the truce by four days – L’Express

The truce between Israel and Hamas is extended until Thursday morning with the gradual release of other Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip where the humanitarian situation remains “catastrophic”.

⇒ Hamas ready to extend the truce.

⇒ 12 hostages were released.

⇒ The United States sends aid to Gaza by military plane.

The truce between Israel and Hamas enters its sixth day on Wednesday, November 29 with a new expected exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, at a time when international mediators are increasing efforts to obtain a lasting ceasefire.

“A glimmer of hope and humanity in the midst of the darkness of war”, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the extension of the truce for 48 hours, until 05:00 GMT on Thursday, should allow the release of 20 Hamas hostages and 60 additional Palestinian prisoners, said Qatar, the main mediator in the negotiations. A new group of 12 hostages held in Gaza was released on Tuesday in exchange for the release of 30 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, after the truce between Palestinian Hamas and the Israeli army was extended for 48 hours.

A source close to Hamas told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement had “agreed to extend the truce by four days” while the exchange agreement between Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners is supposed to end Thursday morning.

Among the 12 hostages, ten Israeli women, aged 17 to 84, were released on Tuesday by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to accounts from their relatives to AFP, information from the Israeli press and the Families Forum hostages.

These releases bring the number of hostages released to 86, or more than a third of the approximately 240 people sequestered in Gaza since their kidnapping on October 7. Among them, 60 women and children have been released since Friday, in exchange for the release of 180 Palestinian prisoners, as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The first American military plane loaded with aid for the Gaza Strip, out of three planned, arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, at a time when Washington is showing its desire to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory at war. “The humanitarian needs in Gaza require the international community to do much more. The United States is committed to this effort,” Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Tuesday.

The latter, accused by activists of sacrificing the Palestinians in the name of supporting Israel, will strive to “mobilize the international community to urgently increase its support” for Gaza, Jake Sullivan added in a statement.

The French helicopter carrier Dixmude, configured to provide hospital support to injured civilians in the Strip Gazawelcomed “first patients in relative emergency” in the Egyptian port of Al-Arich on Tuesday, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday

G7 foreign ministers on Wednesday called on Houthi rebels in Yemen to “immediately stop” threatening shipping and release the crew of a cargo ship they seized in the Red Sea ten days ago. “We call on all parties not to threaten or obstruct the lawful exercise of navigation rights and freedoms by all vessels,” according to the statement by the G7 ministers.

Previously almost daily attacks on American troops stationed in Iraq and Syria have ceased since the truce between Israel and Hamas took effect on Friday, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “There have been no attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria since November 23,” the day before the truce began, Pentagon spokesperson General Pat told a news conference. Ryder.

According to information reported by The Guardian, parts of the West Bank city of Jenin were cordoned off and checkpoints were set up on roads leading to the city. Al Jazeera says armed clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters took place, leaving at least eight people injured. They report that hundreds of Israeli soldiers took part in the raid, supported by more than 50 armored vehicles.