GAZA STRIP, Palestine
The truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours Monday, with the militant group saying it was willing to extend the pause after it freed more hostages, including a four-year-old orphaned by its attack.
The pause that began Friday
has seen dozens of hostages freed, with over 100 Palestinian prisoners released
by Israel in return.
Attention now has turned to
whether the truce will be extended before its scheduled end early on Tuesday
morning.
“That’s my goal, that’s our
goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see
more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in
Gaza,” US President Joe Biden said Sunday.
He said he would like the
fighting to be paused for “as long as prisoners keep coming out.”
“I get a sense that all the
players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all
released and... Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza.”
Hamas has signalled its
willingness to extend the truce, with a source saying the group told mediators
they were open to prolonging it by “two to four days.”
“The resistance believes it is
possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners” in that time, the
source close to the movement said.
Under the truce, 50 hostages
held by the militants were to be freed over four days in exchange for 150
Palestinian prisoners. A built-in mechanism extends it if at least 10 Israeli
captives are released each extra day.
One potential complicating
factor is the fact that some hostages are believed to be held by groups other
than Hamas.
Israel faces enormous pressure
from the families of hostages, as well as allies, to extend the truce to secure
more releases.
“It would be good, helpful and
necessary” to extend the truce until all hostages, who include French
nationals, are freed, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told BFMTV on
Sunday.
Three successive days of
hostage releases have buoyed spirits in Israel, with tearful reunions weeks
after Hamas militants poured across the border on October 7, killing 1,200
people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Gaza’s Hamas government.
The third group of hostages
released Sunday included a four-year-old American citizen called Abigail whose
parents were both murdered in the Hamas attacks.
“What a joy to see her with
us. But on the other hand, what a pity that she returns to the reality of not
having parents,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.Israeli Prime Minister's Office on November 26, 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip.
“She has no parents, but she
has a whole nation that embraces her,” he added.
Also among those freed Sunday
was an 84-year-old woman who was rushed to intensive care in critical condition
“after serious neglect,” medical officials said.
Thirteen hostages were freed
under the terms of the truce on Sunday in exchange for 39 Palestinian
prisoners, who have been received by rapturous crowds waving Palestinian and
Hamas flags.
Hamas separately freed three
Thai nationals and a Russian-Israeli citizen, Ron Krivoy, who the group said
was released “in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin”
and his “support of the Palestinian cause.”
Israel has faced mounting
pressure to extend the pause mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt,
though its leaders have been keen to dismiss any suggestions of a lasting halt
to the offensive.
“We continue until the end —
until victory,” Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday, on the first visit by an
Israeli premier since 2005.
His office has proposed a war
budget of 30 billion shekels ($8 billion) for 90 days.
Wearing green military
fatigues and surrounded by soldiers, Netanyahu vowed to free all the hostages
and “eliminate Hamas,” in footage posted online by his office.
“Nothing will stop us, and we
are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the
determination to achieve all the war’s goals,” he said.
Elsewhere in Gaza, residents
picked through heaps of rubble where homes once stood searching for belongings
after weeks of bombardment.
“I came to see if there was
anything left, if there was anything I could salvage. We fled with nothing,”
said Ous sama al Bass, inspecting the ruins of his home in Al-Zahra, south of
Gaza City.
“Everything is lost,” he said.
“We’re tired. That’s enough. We can’t take it anymore.”
On the outskirts of Gaza City,
families took to the road on foot to head south, pushing luggage and relatives
in wheelchairs, and carrying children in their arms.
Israel has told Palestinians
in Gaza to leave the north for the relative safety of the south, but it has now
sent text messages to those in the southern city of Khan Yunis warning it knows
hostages are being held there.
“The army will neutralize
anyone who has kidnapped hostages,” the message said.
The UN estimates that 1.7
million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.
The pause in fighting has
allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of
water and other essentials.
But Adnan Abu Hansa, a
spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned of
“unprecedented” humanitarian needs.
“We should send 200 lorries a day continuously for at least two months,” he
said.
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