Gaza (Web Desk/Agencies): The truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has been extended for two days.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said during two-day truce twenty more Gaza captives will be freed by Hamas while sixty Palestinians will be released from Israeli prisons.
Majed Al-Ansari said that deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza will also continue.
He said negotiations will continue over the next 48 hours in hopes of further extending the truce and securing the release of more civilian captives.
Palestinian resistance group Hamas also confirmed the extension and Israeli media reported the government had received a new list of 10 more captives who would be freed. However, there was no official word from Israel.
The news of the extension came as 11 more captives were freed from Gaza overnight, along with the release of another 33 Palestinian prisoners, the last exchange under the existing deal.
According to Arab Media, during the four days after the temporary ceasefire, Hamas released 58 hostages, including 39 Israeli citizens, while 117 Palestinian women and children were released by Israel.
Hamas released 39 Israeli citizens in 3 groups while Israel released 117 Palestinian prisoners in 3 groups. Hamas released 17 Thai, 1 Filipino and 1 Israeli Russian citizen.
Israel continued its brutal attacks on the besieged Gaza for 44 days.
In the barbaric bombardment, more than 14,500 Palestinians were martyred, including a large number of children and women.
The extension of the truce, which had been scheduled to end at 7:00am (0500 GMT), was welcomed internationally.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it "a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war".
“It’s a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war and I strongly hope that these will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that is suffering so much,” the UN chief told reporters in New York about the extension in the truce announced by Qatar, the mediator in the crisis.
Without more time, he added, “it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population in Gaza.”
Earlier on Monday, Qatar, which has emerged as a key player on the international stage, said that a truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of conflict that in which nearly 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and relentless Israeli attacks decimated the enclave.
