Netanyahu gets list of hostages to be freed today as truce extended by 2 days
As the truce between Israel and Hamas was extended for another two days.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has received a list of hostages who are set to be released on Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported.
Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, announced the extension of the four-day truce that was initially supposed to end on Monday night. Hamas members are now drawing up a new list of hostages held in Gaza after the truce extension.
Arab states and the European Union agreed on the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict during a meeting in Spain on Monday (local time). The two-state solution calls for establishing an independent nation of Palestine alongside that of Israel.
At the Union for the Mediterranean summit in Spain’s Barcelona, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell stressed that the Palestinian Authority should rule Gaza, asserting that it was the only “viable solution”, news agency Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will again go on a whirlwind trip to the Middle East and Europe from Monday to Saturday, the State Department said. He will visit Belgium, North Macedonia, Israel, the West Bank and the UAE.
Hamas released 11 more hostages, all of them being women and children who were abducted when the Palestinian terror group attacked Israel on October 7. The captives were handed over to the Red Cross and then to Israeli security agencies. In return, Israel released 33 Palestinians.
So far, Hamas has released 69 hostages, both Israelis and non-Israelis for the last three days, while Israel has freed around 150 Palestinians amid the two-day truce extension.
The US State Department said Blinken, during his visit to Israel and the West Bank, would discuss the ongoing efforts to secure the release of remaining captives held by Hamas in Gaza, humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian enclave and Israel’s right to defend itself while protecting civilian lives.
This will be Blinken’s third visit to the region since October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel and killed around 1,200 people and took some 240 people as hostages.
Israel, on the other hand, bombarded Gaza and initiated a ground assault in the north, killing nearly 15,000 Palestinians.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the extended truce between Israel and Hamas was a “glimpse of hope and humanity”. But he expressed his concern that it may not be enough to meet aid need targets in Gaza.
All aid supplies have been going to the besieged enclave through the Rafah border crossing in Egypt and the UN wants the relief trucks to pass through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, controlled by Israel.
“I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much – knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population,” Guterres was quoted by Reuters as saying while speaking to reporters.
The White House welcomed the extended truce in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza and said President Joe Biden has been “deeply engaged” in the process, speaking to the Emir of Qatar and Netanyahu.
“The White House welcomes the extended pause in military operations in Gaza until Thursday morning that was just announced by Qatar. The extended pause will allow for the release of another twenty Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the flow of additional humanitarian aid into the war-torn region,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said.
“As many as 200 trucks with humanitarian aid passed through the Rafah crossing this weekend and 137 UN trucks carrying aid arrived at the reception point in Gaza,” he added.
Biden on Monday wrote on X and reiterated the need for a two-state solution to the conflict, asserting it was the only way to guarantee the long-term security of the Israeli and the Palestinian people.