Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the ongoing truce for another two days, which will allow the release of 20 additional hostages, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary wrote in a post on X Monday.
The announcement came on the last day of the agreed upon four-day cease-fire which emerged out of a deal that led to the release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian security prisoners. So far, Israel has released 117 prisoners and has allowed humanitarian aid to reach Gaza as part of the agreement. Hamas, for its part, has returned 58 hostages in total, with 39 being Israeli citizens. Before the temporary truce, the terrorist organization had released four hostages, with one more rescued and two found dead inside Gaza. An estimated 175 people remain in Hamas captivity.
Before the news of an extended cease-fire period, a fourth group of hostages was slated for release Monday, following the pattern of freeing captives in groups. The release of the second group — composed of 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens — hit an obstacle Saturday after Hamas accused Israel of violating the terms of the cease-fire, an allegation the Israel Defense Forces denied. That group of hostages would eventually return home just before Saturday’s midnight deadline.
Israel has raised issues with Hamas’s compliance with the agreement from the outset. Fifteen minutes into the pause, the IDF intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza, which it claimed was launched by Hamas. Hamas also violated the conditions of the deal by releasing children without their families; the product of the negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar held that no child should be separated from his or her mother during the transfer process.
On Sunday, Hamas released the first of its American hostages, the four-year-old Abigail Edan, whose parents were murdered in Hamas’s October 7 attack. Edan was one of ten Americans held hostage in Gaza, national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.