Truce in Israel-Hamas war extended for another day, minutes before it was set to expire: Updates
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Editor's Note: For the latest on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here
A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended another day, Israel's military announced, making it the second extension of the four-day agreement that was set to expire Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that the temporary truce with Hamas will be extended for a seventh day “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement." Hamas and Qatar, which have been mediating between the two sides, confirmed the extension.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the agreement is under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Negotiators had been feverishly working to continue the halt in fighting. Last-minute disagreements earlier Thursday included Hamas saying Israel had rejected a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three who the group said were killed in previous Israeli airstrikes.
Israel later said Hamas submitted an improved list, which led to the extension just minutes before it was set to expire.
Officials in Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. have been working with Hamas and Israeli leaders on a temporary extension with an eye toward ending the war. Netanyahu, however, has said fighting will ultimately continue until Hamas has been crushed.
Wednesday's hostage release was initially said to involve 10 Israeli citizens and two Russians − dual nationals who are mother and daughter, according to the Times of Israel − but the Israeli military later said it also included four Thai citizens. Among those released is a dual Israeli-American citizen: Liat Beinin Atzili, a 49-year-old teacher and mother of three.
Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote on X that the "time is ripe" for a larger swap.
"Netanyahu can see that Hamas prefers not to return to war but the public insistence on prioritizing return of hostages ties his hands," Indyk wrote. "And pressure from (President Joe) Biden to extend the pause makes it doubly difficult for him to resume the battle."
But a senior Israeli official who spoke to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity said that, despite reports to the contrary, he was "not aware of any possibility" to turn the pause into a longer-term cease-fire involving all the remaining hostages, including men and soldiers, being released in exchange for all Palestinians in Israeli jails.
"We are doubtful there is such an offer," the official said.
The truce began Friday and initially was to last four days, but talks led to a two-day extension through Wednesday that allowed for more releases. The cease-fire has resulted in 96 hostages getting freed, including 72 Israelis, as well as 180 Palestinians, not including those expected to be let go early Thursday. Four hostages were previously released and another one was rescued by Israeli forces.
12 more hostages freed: More Israeli captives released in Gaza
Developments:
∎ Israeli troops killed two Palestinian boys – ages 8 and 15 – during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian health officials said. That increases to 234 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war began, including 63 children, the U.N. said.
∎ Northern Gaza, which hardly benefited from the influx of humanitarian aid trucks into the strip as it was battered by the Israeli air and ground campaign before the truce, received 21 such trucks Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
∎ Advocacy groups including Amnesty International USA delivered nearly 1 million signatures to the White House calling on Biden to use his influence to bring about a sustained cease-fire.
∎ Pope Francis, during his weekly public audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, expressed support for the temporary truce, the release of hostages and the delivery of aid to Gaza.
∎ Hamas said the release of two Russian hostages came at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Husband of freed US hostage still in captivity
Liat Beinin Atzili, who teaches high school and serves as a youth guide at the Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, became only the second American hostage to be released during the truce. She and her husband, Aviv Atzili, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas rampage.
U.S. authorities believe seven or eight Americans remain captive in Gaza.
"We remain determined to secure the release of every person taken hostage by Hamas during its brutal terrorist assault on Israel on October 7, including Liat’s husband Aviv,'' Biden said in a statement.
Beinin Atzili was born in Israel and "likes to travel to wild places with her family, and experience the nature and the wildlife,'' according the to the BringThemHomeNow family group.
At a stop in Pueblo, Colorado, Biden said he spoke with her parents. “They’re very appreciative and things are moving well,” he said. “She’ll soon be home with her three children.”
Hamas says three hostages have died
The Israeli military said it was investigating the veracity of a Hamas announcement Wednesday that three Israeli hostages have died "as a result of a former Zionist bombing on the Gaza Strip," apparently prior to the start of the cease-fire. Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in the Telegram post that Shiri Silverman Bibas, 32, her 4-year-old son Ariel and her 10-month-old son Kfir had died.
“The Hamas terror organization continues to act in a cruel and inhumane manner,” the Israeli military said in a statement. "The responsibility for the safety of all the abductees in the Gaza Strip lies fully with the terrorist organization Hamas."
The Bibas family released a statement to Israel's i24 news saying it was awaiting the report "to be confirmed or hopefully refuted soon by military officials." The statement also thanked the people of Israel for the "warm embrace" the family has received.
Netanyahu: Israel will go back to 'fighting until the end'
Amid the hopes for a longer-lasting peace raised by the current truce and exchange of hostages for prisoners, Israel's Netanyahu has steadfastly maintained the war will resume when the cease-fire ends.
He reiterated that stance Wednesday in a tweet.
“In the last few days I hear a question – will Israel return to fighting after this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted?’’ Netanyahu said, according to the Google translation from the Hebrew. “So my answer is unequivocal – yes. There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.’’
Netanyahu repeated his three goals for the war: The release of all hostages, the elimination of Hamas and making sure Gaza never threatens Israel again.
“These three goals remain the same,’’ he said.
However, Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Netanyahu, told CNN that about 25 Israeli women and children are still under captivity, so Israel is willing to make good on its offer to extend the truce by a day for every 10 hostages who get released. “The ball is in Hamas’ court,’’ he said.
Israel has been pounding Gaza since militants slipped across the border into Israel on Oct. 7 on a mission of destruction, killing 1,200 people before racing back into Gaza with an estimated 240 hostages. Israel's response has been to level swaths of Gaza in a military campaign that Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 13,000 people.
Former hostage Abigail Edan, 4, discharged from hospital
Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old Israeli American whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 rampage by Palestinian militants, was discharged from a hospital in Israel late Tuesday night, Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikvah said. She had been admitted for evaluation after spending seven weeks in captivity.
Abigail, a dual citizen, was the first American released under the terms of the current truce as she made it out of Gaza on Sunday along with 16 other hostages held by Hamas. She turned 4 under captivity Friday and her release became a focal point of the Biden administration.
During the attack, Abigail ran to a neighbor’s home for shelter and was taken in by the Brodutch family before militants abducted the family into Gaza. Hagar Brodutch and her three children were also released Sunday.
University presidents to testify on antisemitism on campuses
Republican lawmakers asked three college presidents to testify at a congressional hearing next week about how they've handled a rise in antisemitic incidents on their campuses since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7. The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology agreed to testify Dec. 5 before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the committee said. The universities have faced public backlash, student demonstrations and alumni revolts since the war began.
“Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen countless examples of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, who chairs the committee. “Meanwhile, college administrators have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow.” Read more here.
− Zachary Schermele
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: Temporary truce extended
