Following seven weeks of fierce fighting, Israel-Hamas decided on November 27, 2023, to prolong the cease-fire by two days. This development has brought some quiet to the Gaza Strip, according to the Qatari government. A deal was reached between the two parties to let more supplies into the embattled zone in exchange for more hostages and detainees.
Hamas released 11 Israelis on the last night of the first four-day truce agreement, including three-year-old twins and their mother.
Israel also gave Hamas a list of 33 Palestinian prisoners that it intended to release later on November 27, 2023, adhering to the three-to-one ratio that they have up to this point.
Major updates on Israel-Hamas war
The extended break in hostilities gave Washington hope that the war’s course might change to allow for the release of more prisoners and increased humanitarian supplies for Gaza, where thousands of people have died and living circumstances are dire for the surviving.
The United States would like to see the fighting cease “extended further until all the hostages are released,” according to John F. Kirby, a White House spokesperson for the National Security Council, who welcomed the longer truce.
The extension was described to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York by Secretary-General António Guterres as “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war.”
The agreement was reached in response to an Israeli offer to extend the cease-fire by one day for each 10 hostages that were freed in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails during the Israel-Hamas war.
Three women and eight children who had been abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, during the Israel-Hamas war, were among the more than 200 Israelis who were freed on Monday. The captives had been transferred to Gaza.
Three of those freed-on Monday, according to the French government, were dual French and Israeli citizens. Approximately ten Israeli Americans are among the several people who have been abducted who are dual nationals; just one of them, a 4-year-old child, has been freed.
Thus far, the discussions have been around juveniles and women from Israel and Palestine. In Gaza, there are still scores of Israeli military and civilian males in their seventies and eighties who are being held captive. There have been other instances where wives and children have been set free without their spouses.
One of the main obstacles in the hostage talks has been the separation of families.
According to an official briefed on the talks, Israeli authorities have conveyed concerns to Qatari mediators about some children being freed without mothers who were also being held captive, which goes against the deal. According to the official, Hamas claims that in some situations, the women are being kept by other organizations, and it will take time to free them.
The government of Qatar, where many of Hamas’s leadership officials reside and which has long served as a go-between for countries unable to engage with Hamas directly, is negotiating the exchange of hostages and inmates.
The head of the State Information Service in Egypt, which is also assisting in mediating the negotiations, Diaa Rashwan, stated on 27 November 2023 that the prolongation of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire will permit the continued limits on Israeli flights over the region as well as the entry of more food, fuel, and medical supplies into Gaza.
Conclusion
Israel-Hamas war has taken a brutal turn with numerous lives are gone every day in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has stated that he was amenable to an extension of the ceasefire between Israel-Hamas but that he expected Israel to return to hostilities once it ended. He restated the intention to destroy Hamas.
Residents of Gaza cautiously welcomed the combat break after almost 50 days of Israeli assault.
