Middle East
The end of the ceasefire in the Gaza war is approaching
Two men walk through Gaza City. photo
© Mohammed Ali/XinHua/dpa
In the Gaza war, people continue to fear for the remaining hostages of the Islamist Hamas. Will the ceasefire be extended further or will the war continue? The overview.
In the Gaza war, negotiations for a further extension of the Ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas continued shortly before the deadline. It is questionable whether there will be an extension, and there is still no agreement, said Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman a few hours before the deadline.
Negotiations may have become more difficult as most of the women and children abducted to Gaza have now been released. Hamas could now demand significantly more Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s prisons in return for men and soldiers. The ceasefire was expected to end at 0600 CET.
More Germans free
The terrorist organization released another 16 hostages on Wednesday. As in previous days, there were ten Israelis, the Israeli army announced on Wednesday. Among them are three Germans, confirmed Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). In return, Israel released another group of 30 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, the Israeli prison authorities announced last night.
Guterres calls for ceasefire
According to UN Secretary General António Guterres, a further extension of the ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza war is not enough. He calls for a “genuine humanitarian ceasefire.” On the X platform (formerly Twitter) Guterres wrote on Wednesday evening: “Negotiations are underway to extend the ceasefire – which we very much welcome – but we need a real humanitarian ceasefire.”
Biden: want to achieve the release of all hostages
US President Joe Biden thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “for their continued partnership in this process and their ongoing commitment to bringing all hostages home and to provide more assistance to the innocent people of Gaza,” the statement said.
The US remains “determined to secure the release of all those taken hostage by Hamas during its brutal terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th,” the US President said in the statement. Biden went into more detail about a possible extension The ceasefire was not included in the statement. His Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously pledged to “do everything in our power to extend the pause.” According to his own statements, he will be in Israel again.
A ceasefire has been in effect since Friday, during which hostages kidnapped to Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel were exchanged. The break in fighting was recently extended by two days. This means that it would expire in the morning without another extension. According to the original agreement between the war opponents, the ceasefire could be extended to a maximum of ten days.
Israel: Will continue war against Hamas
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in a statement that fighting would resume when “this phase of the return of our hostages is complete.” Army spokesman Spielman also said that if the current deadline expires, they are ready to continue the military operation to completely destroy Hamas.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, there were clashes between soldiers and people waiting for Palestinians to return home, according to the Red Crescent. There are said to have been injuries. Several Palestinians had previously been killed in an Israeli anti-terror operation in the occupied West Bank.
The previous ceasefire had improved the provision of aid to the Gaza Strip, said UN Secretary General Guterres. But the amount of aid is still insufficient to meet the enormous needs of more than two million people, Guterres wrote on
The Gaza War was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from the Gaza Strip committed in Israel near the border on October 7th. More than 1,200 people were killed. Around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza, including several Germans. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a blockade of the Gaza Strip. In late October his forces began a ground offensive. According to Hamas, almost 15,000 people were killed and more than 36,000 injured. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.
What is important today
The extended ceasefire expires this morning. Whether it will be extended remains to be seen. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Blinken is expected again for talks in Israel.