INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A humanitarian pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will extend by two days, mediator Qatar said Monday as an initial four-day truce
Twitter.Hamas confirmed Monday the truce in Gaza has been extended by two days.Hamas had said it was drawing up a new list of hostages held
were continuing on an extension of the initial four-day pause in the fighting and exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.Israel
said Monday it was open to extending a truce with Hamas if the Palestinian group continues to release hostages, as international pressure
mounted for a longer pause in the Gaza fighting.If no extension had been agreed to, the temporary truce was due to expire at 7 a.m
EST) on Tuesday, threatening a return to intense fighting in a war that has already left many thousands dead.U.S
President Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had all joined a global chorus urging the
in order to bring home 50 more Israeli hostages in the coming days, government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters, potentially implying a
five-day extension.As part of the truce deal, Hamas has so far released 39 Israeli hostages, including a 4-year-old girl orphaned by the
7 attack, with more expected later Monday.Israel has freed 117 Palestinian prisoners in exchange under the terms of the agreement
A further 19 foreign nationals have also been released from Gaza under separate arrangements.Tearful reunions of families and hostages,
released in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners, have brought the first relief from images of civilian death and suffering in the
movement said.Under the truce, 50 hostages held by the militants were to be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners
A built-in mechanism extends the truce if at least 10 Israeli captives are released each extra day.But some hostages are believed to be held
by Palestinian militant groups other than Hamas, potentially complicating future releases
Israel is also facing pressure from the families of hostages to extend the truce to secure more releases.Three successive days of hostage
releases have buoyed spirits in Israel, with tearful reunions weeks after Hamas militants poured across the border on Oct
7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas,
from the Gaza Strip welcomed the releases of her fellow hostages, in her first public comments since she was freed.Ori Megidish, 19, was
operating an observation post on the Gaza border when she was seized in the Hamas attacks
Her rescue was confirmed by the Israeli military just over three weeks later, but no details have since been released.In a relaxed video
Sunday, on the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2005.His office has proposed a war budget of 30 billion shekels ($8 billion) for 90
online by his office.In another sign of mounting international concern, U.N
rights experts called Monday for independent investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Israel and
the Palestinian territories since Oct
7.Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on
