英语新闻丨Israel, Hamas agree to extend cease-fire

A truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediator Qatar said hours before the pause was due to end, as more hostages were freed from Gaza in exchange for the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

"The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," said a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday on X, formerly Twitter.

The sides agreed to extend their truce through Wednesday, with another two planned exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Deeming the extension as "a glimpse of hope and humanity" in the middle of the conflict, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "I strongly hope that these will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much."

As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for November, China will hold a Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on Wednesday.

On Monday, Israel confirmed that Hamas released another 11 captives in the Gaza Strip, while 33 Palestinians released by Israel arrived early on Tuesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, special forces and Israel Security Agency, or ISA, forces are currently accompanying 11 released hostages in Israeli territory, the statement read. "After they undergo an initial medical assessment, our forces will escort them until they are reunited with their families."

They were released 52 days after being taken hostage by Hamas militants in their deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct 7. Of the about 240 hostages captured by Hamas, less than one-third have been released so far, according to the IDF.

Under the original four-day truce deal, Hamas will release 50 Israelis in exchange for some 150 Palestinians from Israel. The humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip entails a cessation of hostilities and an increased flow of aid trucks carrying relief supplies and fuel through the Rafah crossing.

Swap Deal

Monday's release brings to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages from other nationalities, The Associated Press reported. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons. Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

US businessman Elon Musk, who's been under fire for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory and wider accusations of hatred flourishing on his social media platform X, visited Israel on Monday.

Musk met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who lambasted him over content on the platform previously known as Twitter. Herzog told Musk that the entrepreneur has "a huge role to play" to combat antisemitism.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit the region later this week for the third time since the start of the conflict, and is expected to press for an extension of the truce and the release of more hostages.

Israel imposed a total blockade of Gaza at the start of the conflict and had only allowed a trickle of humanitarian aid to enter before the cease-fire, leading to widespread shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel to power generators amid a territory-wide power blackout.

The UN says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the conflict. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half of what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

"My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them," said Alaa Mansour, who was sheltering at a hospital in central Gaza. "I have not drank water for two days, and there's no bathroom to use."