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Israel-Hamas Truce: As the deadline nears for the four-day Israel-Hamas temporary truce, the Palestinian militant group has said the deal can be extended only if serious efforts are made to increase the number of Palestinian detainees in Israel, reported Reuters. This comes after Hamas released 58 hostages it had held captive since the Oct 7 attack on Israel. The announcement was made in a statement on Sunday.
Hamas freed 25 hostages on the first day of the true, 17 on the second day and 18 on the third day. This includes people of foreign nationals as well, but mostly Thais, according to a report in The Associated Press.
The truce deal was brokered by Qatar and Egypt pausing the conflict for the very first time in seven long weeks. More than 15,000 people in Gaza have so far died in Israel’s counter-offensive against Hamas in the enclave.
President Joe Biden earlier said that on the third day of a truce, Hamas freed a four-year-old American girl, 13 Israeli captives, three Thais, and one Russian citizen, news agency Reuters reported.
Earlier in a post on X, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari stated: “In implementation of the commitments of the third day of the humanitarian truce agreement, 39 Palestinian civilians will be released in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli civilians from Gaza, in addition to a Russian national and 3 Thais who have already been handed over to the ICRC.”
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden backed the extension of the temporary four-day truce as agreed upon by Israel and Hamas as more hostages were released on Day 3. Thirteen Israelis, including a four-year-old Americal-Israeli girl and three foreigners, were freed from Gaza, Hamas said, whereas 39 Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel.
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