The cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is extended for another day
Hamas and its side-deal: The Israeli-Russian embassy in Gaza’s ongoing hostages-for-prisoners assault
Surveillance video from the attack shows two gunmen exiting a car and firing on a group of civilians waiting at a bus stop. A police statement, quoting medical sources, said three civilians were killed and 16 injured, by two assailants of East Jerusalem armed with an M-16 rifle and a handgun. It said the two “were neutralized on the scene shortly after the attack by two off-duty (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers and another civilian who fired at them.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Hours after Hamas released another 16 captives in exchange for 30 Palestinians held by Israel, the two sides announced Thursday that they had agreed to extend their cease-fire in Gaza by at least another day to continue the hostages-for-prisoners swaps.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum believes that Hamas still holds 145 hostages from Oct. 7, including 27 women and four minors — one girl and three boys all under the age of 18.
Two Israeli-Russians were also released as part of what Hamas has described as a side-deal facilitated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the third such release since the exchanges began on Friday.
Blinken met Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who thanked the U.S. “for the immense work it is devoting to the release of the hostages.” He also mentioned by name the Bibas family, still being held hostage. Israel says that the family, including a four-year-old girl and 10-month-old infant, were handed off by Hamas to a different militant group and that the mother and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The US has focused on the hostages’ release from the beginning, according to deputy secretary of state Tony Pinchen. He called the swaps of captives this week “a very positive development.”
“It gave rise to an increase in humanitarian assistance going to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately,” he said. “So this process is producing results. It’s important, and we hope that it can continue.”
Netanyahu offered his sympathies to the families of the victims and said that his government would try to distribute weapons to Israeli civilians.
The bus stop assault is proof that the war ministry needs to continue to fight with strength and determination against terrorism which threatens our citizens. He wrote that there were places in Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea and Samaria. The West Bank has been referred to by the names Judea and Samaria.
On Wednesday, Palestinian officials said Israeli troops killed an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old during a raid on the Palestinian city of Jenin. The military says that it killed two people in the raid.
In Gaza, where the week-long pause has temporarily halted Israel’s relentless air-and-ground campaign against Hamas, at least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
While the cease-fire has allowed desperately needed aid to reach many Gazans, the UN Secretary-General said that the delivery of aid remains completely inadequate to meet the needs of more than two million people.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update that aid convoys, that had been unable to reach areas north of an informal line bisecting Gaza, continued through Wednesday.
It was said that Palestine Red Crescent Society and the U.N. UN Relief and Works Agency ( UNRWA) delivered food and non-food items, medical supplies, and fuel to shelters hosting IDPs. The latter included two hospitals in Gaza city, Al Ahli and As Sahaba, which received a total 10,500 liters (nearly 2,800 gallons) of fuel, enough to operate generators for about seven days.”
