By TIA GOLDENBERG, JACK JEFFERY and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners launched by Israel has arrived within the West Bank city of Ramallah.
It was the fourth such launch as a part of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Earlier, Hamas launched eleven Israeli girls and kids it held hostage.
The four-day truce was to come back to an finish Tuesday, however Qatari mediators stated it will be prolonged for 2 further days.
The prisoners have been greeted by loud cheers from crowds surrounding the bus because it made its manner by way of the streets of the town.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows under.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel and Hamas agreed to increase their cease-fire for 2 extra days previous Monday, elevating the prospect of additional exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and an extended halt to their deadliest and most harmful struggle.
The deal for 2 further days of cease-fire, introduced by Qatar, raised hopes for additional extensions, which additionally enable extra help into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for two.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a floor offensive which have pushed three-quarters of the inhabitants from their properties.
Israel has stated it will prolong the cease-fire by someday for each 10 further hostages launched. After the announcement by Qatar — a key mediator within the battle, together with the United States and Egypt — Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension “under the same terms.”
But Israel says it stays dedicated to crushing Hamas’ navy capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel. That would probably imply increasing a floor offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.
Monday’s releases carry to 50 the variety of Israelis freed underneath the truce, together with 19 hostages of different nationalities. So far, 117 Palestinians have been launched from Israeli prisons.
After weeks of nationwide trauma over the roughly 240 individuals kidnapped by Hamas and different militants, scenes of the ladies and kids reuniting with households have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those that stay in captivity.
“We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing,” two kinfolk of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old woman and twin Israeli-American citizen who was launched Sunday, stated in a press release.
Hamas and different militants may nonetheless be holding as much as 175 hostages, sufficient to probably prolong the cease-fire for 2 and a half weeks. But these embrace plenty of troopers, and Hamas is prone to make a lot higher calls for for his or her launch.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel and Hamas agreed to increase their cease-fire for 2 extra days previous Monday, elevating the prospect of additional exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and an extended halt to their deadliest and most harmful struggle.
Most of the hostages freed thus far have gave the impression to be bodily nicely. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, launched Sunday, was airlifted to Israel’s Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening situation due to insufficient care, the hospital stated.
Avraham’s daughter, Tali Amano, stated her mom was “hours from death” when she was delivered to the hospital. Avraham is at the moment sedated and has a respiration tube, however Amano stated she instructed her of a brand new great-grandchild who was born whereas she was in captivity.
Avraham suffered from a number of persistent circumstances that required common drugs however was secure earlier than she was kidnapped, Amano stated Monday.
So far, 19 individuals of different nationalities have been freed in the course of the truce, principally Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.
France stated three of the hostages launched Monday have been French-Israeli twin residents, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old. The French authorities is ‘’working tirelessly’’ to free 5 different French residents held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry stated in a press release.
The Palestinian prisoners launched thus far have been principally youngsters accused of throwing stones and firebombs throughout confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, together with these implicated in assaults, as heroes resisting occupation.
The freed hostages have principally stayed out of the general public eye, however particulars of their captivity have began to trickle out.
Merav Raviv, whose three kinfolk have been launched Friday, stated they’d been fed irregularly and misplaced weight. One reported consuming primarily bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift mattress of chairs pushed collectively. Hostages typically needed to await hours to make use of the lavatory, she stated.
In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.
“We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages,” Kirby instructed reporters.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed because the struggle started, roughly two-thirds of them girls and minors, in accordance with the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 individuals have been killed on the Israeli aspect, principally civilians killed within the preliminary assault. At least 77 troopers have been killed in Israel’s floor offensive.
The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled whole neighborhoods.
Footage confirmed a fancy of a number of dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled right into a panorama of wreckage within the northern city of Beit Hanoun. Nearly each constructing was destroyed or severely broken, some decreased to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a close-by U.N. college, the buildings have been intact however partially burned and riddled with holes.
The Israeli assault has pushed three-quarters of Gaza’s inhabitants from their properties, and now most of its 2.3 million persons are crowded into the south. More than 1 million live in U.N. shelters. The Israeli navy has barred a whole lot of hundreds of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.
Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering within the compound of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift hearth amongst tents arrange on the muddy grounds.
Alaa Mansour stated the circumstances are merely horrendous.
“My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them.” stated Mansour, who’s disabled. “I have not drunk water for two days, and there’s no bathroom to use.”
The U.N. says the truce made it attainable to scale up the supply of meals, water and drugs to the biggest quantity because the begin of the struggle. But the 160 to 200 vans a day continues to be lower than half what Gaza was importing earlier than the preventing, at the same time as humanitarian wants have soared.
Long traces fashioned outdoors stations distributing cooking gasoline, allowed in for the primary time. Fuel for turbines has been introduced for key service suppliers, together with hospitals and water and sanitation amenities, however bakeries have been unable to renew work, the U.N. stated.
Iyad Ghafary, a vendor within the city Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, stated many households have been nonetheless unable to retrieve the lifeless from underneath the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that native authorities weren’t geared up to cope with the extent of destruction.
Many say the help will not be practically sufficient.
Amani Taha, a widow and mom of three who fled northern Gaza, stated she had solely managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution heart because the cease-fire started.
She stated the crowds have overwhelmed native markets and fuel stations as individuals attempt to replenish on fundamentals. “People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could,” she stated. “They are extremely worried that the war will return.”
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Jeffery and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press author Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.
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Full AP protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
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