The six-day humanitarian pause was set to expire Thursday morning, but will be extended, with Hamas hanging over two more Israeli hostages on Thursday evening.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Israeli army announced on Thursday that "two Israeli hostages", initially handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Gaza Strip, were now "in Israel", having been released under an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Since Friday, the Palestinian Islamist movement has been releasing around ten hostages a day, and Israel has released three times as many Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
"Other Israeli hostages will be handed over to the ICRC in the next few hours", says the Israeli army.
Earlier, Qatar confirmed the truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended by one day until Friday.
“The Palestinian and Israeli sides agreed to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for another day,” Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement.
The morning was, however, marked by a gun attack by two "terrorists" on a bus stop in Jerusalem, which killed two people and injured eight - five seriously, according to the Israeli police. The two assailants were “neutralised”.
Hamas had already announced early on Thursday the six-day humanitarian pause would continue for another day, while Israel's army said the truce continued with ongoing negotiations.
Al-Ansari said the truce will be conducted under the same conditions as before: Military activities will stop, hostages will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners at a ratio of three to one and much-needed humanitarian aid will be allowed to flow into Gaza.
He added the truce would take place "within the framework of the joint mediation of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States."
The truce, which came into force on Friday for four days and was then extended for two, has already allowed the release of 70 Israeli hostages and 210 Palestinian prisoners.
Around thirty foreigners or dual nationals, mostly Thais working in Israel, were also released, outside of the agreement.
The truce has allowed hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, devastated by Israeli strikes.
The Israel Hamas war was sparked when the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on 7 October. Some 240 people were taken hostage during the raid, according to Israel.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to "annihilate" Hamas and began relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip until a temporary ceasefire was struck on 24 November.
Both sides have vowed to resume fighting as soon as the deal expires.