Gaza Truce Extended In Last-Minute Deal
The Khan Yunis municipality building after an Israeli air strike in the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 10th October, 2023. (Source: Anas-Mohammed/Shutterstock)
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the Gaza truce one more day as hostage talks are likely to become increasingly difficult.
Over Wednesday, news of the death of a 10-month Israeli hostage, Kfir Bibas, had dealt a blow to the truce talks. Kfir Bibas was taken hostage along with his family from Kibbutz Nir Oz, during the Hamas attack on 7 October. The child’s family had called for his release, expressing concerns that he may not be getting the formula he needed while in Gaza.
Hamas said that Kfir, along with his four-year old brother Ariel and his mother Shiri, has been killed by an Israeli airstrike. Hamas made no mention of the fate of his father Yarden, nor did they disclose when the deaths occurred. Israeli officials say they are verifying the claim, while supporting the Bibas family.
Under the terms of the truce, Hamas agreed to release women and minors among the 240 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip on 7 October, while Israel is in turn releasing Palestinian women and minors from its prisons. The releases of captives have been met with celebration from families both in Israel and in the Gaza Strip.
An Increasingly Difficult Truce
However, as Hamas has released most of the captive women and children, they are expected to drive a harder bargain for the estimated 126 captive men, which include members of the Israeli military.
The truce is also allowing for aid to be delivered in Gaza, where the vast majority of the population is now displaced, having fled south when the attack began in the north and particularly in Gaza city. However, the UN Secretary-General’s office said on Monday that this aid “barely registers” against the needs of an estimated 1.7 million displaced people.
Footage from the north shows the scale of devastation in the northern Gaza Strip, with buildings levelled in what some have described as a “lunar” landscape. With hostilities likely to move south once the truce ends, US President Joe Biden has called for any Israeli attack in the south to be carried out with greater precision, to minimise civilian casualties and avoid further displacement.
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