TEL AVIV: Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire for the seventh day, while mediators pressed on with talks to extend the truce further to free more hostages and let aid reach Gaza.
The truce has halted bombing and allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million people was reduced to wasteland in an Israeli campaign in retaliation for a deadly rampage by Hamas militants on October 7.
Israel, which has demanded Hamas release at least 10 hostages per day to keep the ceasefire going, said it received a list at the last minute of those who would go free on Thursday, allowing it to call off plans to resume fighting at dawn.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Israel during his third visit to the Middle East since the war began, said the truce was “producing results. Blinken, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet in Jerusalem before heading to Ramallah, said Israel must ensure that Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza are safe and their humanitarian needs are met before resuming military operations there, his spokesperson said.
In Jerusalem, two Hamas gunmen killed three civilians at a bus stop during morning rush hour. Israel reiterated its commitment to wiping out the Palestinian Islamist faction. The attackers, Palestinians from East Jerusalem, were shot dead by off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian, the police said. Eight people were also wounded.