Negotiators Strive to Prolong Ceasefire in Gaza Before Final Scheduled Hostage Release
International mediators appeared to make progress Wednesday on extending the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas terrorists to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive. The cease-fire will otherwise end within a day.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives. But it also says it is committed to its other major goal—the annihilation of the terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war.
Weeks of heavy aerial bombardment and a ground invasion have demolished vast swaths of northern Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authority.
Yehya Sinwar and other Hamas terrorist leaders have likely relocated to the south, along with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who have packed into overflowing shelters.
An Israeli ground invasion of the south could ferret out Hamas’ leaders and demolish the rest of its militant infrastructure, including miles of tunnels.
Diplomacy Ramps Up
Head of Egypt’s state information services, Diaa Rashwan, said negotiations to extend the cease-fire and release more hostages have made progress and that it is “highly likely” another extension will be announced Wednesday. Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, played a key role in mediating the original cease-fire and a two-day extension announced Monday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who plans to visit the region this week, said the United States would like to see an extension of the truce, the release of more hostages, and the delivery of more humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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The war began with Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel, in which it killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants dragged some 240 people back into Gaza, including babies, children, women, soldiers, elderly people, and Thai farm laborers.
Israel responded with a devastating air campaign across Gaza and a ground invasion in the north. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The toll is likely much higher, as officials have only sporadically updated the count since Nov. 11 due to the breakdown of services in the north. The ministry says thousands more people are missing and feared dead under the rubble.
Israel says 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
Israel’s Hostage Dilemma
The plight of the captives, and the lingering shock from the Oct. 7 attack, has galvanized Israeli support for the war. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under intense pressure to bring the hostages home.
Israel said Wednesday that around 160 hostages are still being held in Gaza, including four who are under 18 and 10 who are over 75.
The cease-fire is currently due to end at some point after an exchange planned for later on Wednesday.
A total of 60 Israelis have been freed as part of the truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Another 21 hostages—19 Thais, one Filipino, and one Russian-Israeli—have been released in separate negotiations since the truce began. Before the cease-fire, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Three others were found dead in Gaza.
The latest swap brought to 180 the number of Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons. Several were women convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting deadly attacks.
Tense Calm in Gaza
Ordinary Palestinians fear the resumption of the war, which has brought unprecedented levels of death, destruction, and displacement across Gaza.
“We are fed up,” said Omar al-Darawi, who works at the overwhelmed Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza. “We want this war to stop.”
Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive have displaced more than 1.8 million people inside Gaza, nearly 80 percent of the territory’s population, and most have sought refuge in the south, according to the U.N.
The cease-fire has allowed more aid to be delivered to Gaza, up to 200 trucks a day, but that is less than half what the enclave was importing before the fighting, even as needs have soared. People stocking up on fuel and other basics have had to wait for hours in long lines that form before dawn.
As U.N.-run shelters have overflowed, many have been forced to sleep on the streets outside in cold, rainy weather.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
