The temporary ceasefire in Gaza entered its sixth and last day on Wednesday, with reports on extending the truce for the second time being leaked. As the sixth release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners is in process, leaks come out that there are negotiations between the Zionist entity and Hamas to release additional captives and extend the ceasefire by another five days.
According to leaks reported by Al-Jazeera, talks on truce extension tackled doing this “over five categories: Israeli captives; elderly men who are too old to be reservists; female soldiers; reservist soldiers; and then the bodies of Israelis who were killed before or during captivity.”
“There seem to be positive noises coming from Hamas about this, as well,” Al-Jazeera added, noting that “there’s a lot of pressure from the right-wing in Israel, which actually controls the government, that this ceasefire should not go on indefinitely.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that occupation authorities are looking into another extension of the truce.
“It depends on the conduct of Hamas,” an Israeli political official was quoted as saying.
Qatar, which mediated the truce deal, hosted on Tuesday the heads of Israeli Mossad and the CIA for talks.
Sixth Release
Another 30 Palestinian prisoners will be released on Wednesday for 10 Israeli captives, media reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement it has received a list with the names of Israelis that Hamas is slated to release later today, the sixth group of hostages to be freed as part of the temporary truce.
The Israeli statement said the “families of those on the list have been informed,” without giving further details.
Earlier on Tuesday, the fifth batch of prisoners were released as part of the swap deal. Hamas released 10 Israeli hostages and two Thai nationals, in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli captives were handed over by Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades and ally Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades to the Red Cross.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club said 15 women and 15 minors were freed.
Upon his liberation from the Israel occupation prisons through the resistance deal, the first words from the father of the prisoner, young Qassam Attoun, were filled with concern: ‘Where did your weight disappear? They don’t feed you, do they?’
These words highlight the harsh… pic.twitter.com/WjzTmrkmQX
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 28, 2023
More Truce Violations
On the other hand, several shooting incidents were reported by Israeli occupation army across the Gaza Strip in violation of the temporary ceasefire.
Israeli forces “opened fire on a Palestinian boat that was trying to go out into the open sea from the shores of Deir el-Balah. The boat returned to the shore,” Amir Bohbot, correspondent for the Israeli Walla news website, said, noting that the shooting is the second incident on Wednesday.
Earlier, three Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, as occupation forces in Beit Hanoun opened fire at them in the northern region of the besieged strip.
Catastrophic Humanitarian Situation
The Director General of hospitals in Gaza Mohammad Zaqout said that hospitals in the strip’s north including Al-Shifa, Kamal Adwan, and al-Ahli hospitals have yet to receive fuel.
He added that Field hospitals coming into Gaza are currently are not in service despite an urgent need for them.
The official warned that the lack of water and hygiene-related materials will increase the risk of epidemics.
For its part, UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said that aids delivered to Gaza are wholly insufficient to deal with level of hunger.
The organization warned that humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic, and that “we are facing the risk of famine.”
“6 days are not enough to deliver the needed aid, people of Gaza deficient in food,” WFP added.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
