US President Joe Biden has signaled that his goal is to see the truce between Hamas and Israel extended beyond today which would mark the end of the initial four-day pause agreed by both sides.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that an extension would be accepted if Hamas continued to release 10 hostages per day for each additional day of pause.
This comes as the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for the dialogue that led to the four-day pause to continue, resulting in a full humanitarian ceasefire for the benefit of the people of Gaza.
Marking the fourth day of the pause, Guterres released a statement commending the governments of Qatar, Egypt and the United States for facilitating this arrangement that has seen guns fall silent and the release of Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
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The UN Secretary-General further indicated that while the pause had allowed for scaled-up humanitarian aid, the amount still barely registered against the huge needs of about 1.7 million displaced persons in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave was only getting worse by the day.
As diplomatic pressure now ramps up on both sides to extend the truce, including from the United States with President Biden addressing the extension Sunday.
“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,” adds Biden.
Biden also spoke Sunday with the Israeli Prime Minister and according to a White House readout talked about the pause in fighting and the surge in much-needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza -vowing to continue working to secure the release of all hostages.
But Israel was adamant that a return to military operations remained, for now, inevitable.
“Here is also the framework that says it is possible to free ten more hostages for every additional day of pause. This is welcomed. In the same breath, I also said to the President that at the end of the outline, we will return with full force to achieve our goals: the elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does return to what it was, and of course the release of all our hostages.”
The Palestinian Authority indicates its openness to the pause being extended with reports that negotiators were close to securing such an agreement.
The video below is reporting more on the truce
