Israel said Monday that 11 more hostages released in the Gaza Strip had arrived safely, hours after the announcement that a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will be extended by two days, opening the way for further releases.
Hamas announced the agreement to prolong the truce by 48 hours shortly before it was due to end Tuesday, though there was no immediate confirmation from Israel.
The move was nevertheless hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war”.
Late Monday, Israel’s military announced that 11 hostages were “now in Israeli territory”.
“Our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families,” it said in a statement, adding that the military “salutes and embraces the released hostages upon their return home”.
Shortly after the arrival of the hostages was confirmed, Israel’s prison authority said 33 Palestinian inmates had been released. Israel’s prison authority said early Tuesday that 33 Palestinian prisoners had been released “during the night”. The release brought the total number of detainees freed by Israel during the initial, four-day pause in the fighting to 150.
The freed Israelis are dual nationals of France, Germany and Argentina, according to Qatar, which helped mediate the deal.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed the release of the hostages, including “two German teenagers” after “52 days of suffering and despair”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will pay his third wartime visit to the Middle East this week, a US official said Monday, just as mediators announced an extension of a truce in Gaza.
A senior US official, speaking as Blinken arrived in Brussels for NATO meetings, said the top US diplomat would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah.
“In his meetings in the Middle East, the secretary will stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and improve protection to civilians in Gaza,” the official said.
“The secretary will discuss with partners in the region the principles he laid out for the future of Gaza and the need to establish an independent Palestinian state,” the official said.
Qatar — with the support of the United States and Egypt — has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari announced that “an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas, which runs Gaza and triggered the war when its militants made an unprecedented attack on southern Israel last month, said it was drawing up a new list of hostages for release.
Israel has been clear that the pause is designed to allow Hamas to free more of the roughly 240 hostages it has been holding since the October 7 attack, which also killed 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, according to officials in the country.
But there had been widespread calls to use the break in hostilities to allow more humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed almost 15,000 people, mostly Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas government.
Most Gaza residents have been displaced and the whole territory is short on essentials such as food, water and medical supplies.
The extension announcements came after US President Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added to calls for a longer break in fighting.
Over the initial four days, a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners were to be exchanged.
