GAZA, (PIC)
As the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip entered its 55th day on Thursday, the Hamas Movement and the Israeli occupation government agreed to extend the temporary humanitarian ceasefire for a seventh day — in the midst of preparations for the release of the seventh batch of detainees as part of the partial prisoner exchange deal.
The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reporter in Gaza said that a sense of relief prevailed among the citizens after hearing that the ceasefire deal was extended for another day at the last minutes before its expiry at 7:00 a.m.
Earlier upon hearing initial news about the Israeli refusal to extend the truce, large numbers of citizens had returned to the shelters at dawn today after leaving them and going back to their homes at the beginning of the ceasefire, according to the PIC reporter.
The reporter added that the citizens who returned to the shelters left them again and went back to their homes after a new extension of the ceasefire was announced.
Announcement of Ceasefire Extension
Hamas announced on Thursday morning its agreement to extend the humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for a seventh day. Its announcement came a few minutes before the six-day ceasefire was set to expire at 7:00 a.m. today.
Meanwhile, Majid al-Ansari, the official spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that an agreement was reached on Thursday to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the same previous conditions, which include a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid.
Spokesman Ansari told the Qatari News Agency (QNA) that there are intensive efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier in the morning, Hamas said that the Israeli occupation army had refused to receive seven of its detainees and three bodies of those killed recently as a result of the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza, in exchange for extending the ceasefire by one more day.
Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, had already asked its fighters to be on high alert for a return to fighting if the truce was not renewed on Thursday.
The humanitarian truce, which began last Friday (November 24) at 7:00 a.m., was supposed to end on Thursday, while intensive efforts are underway to extend it as a prelude to reaching a comprehensive ceasefire.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) released the sixth batch of Palestinian prisoners, including women, to the West Bank and Jerusalem on Thursday morning, while al-Qassam Brigades released 10 detained children and women last night.
As part of the exchange deal, the IOF released 210 female and child prisoners during the past six days, while the resistance released 70 Israeli detainees, including women and children. In addition, they released around 27 foreign detainees as part of humanitarian initiatives and in response to the efforts of several parties
The IOF continues to detain about 8,000 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 3,000 who were arrested after October 7. The spokesperson for the Israeli occupation government, Elon Levy, claims that 151 Israelis are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas demands a comprehensive deal that includes the release of all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of all Israeli captives in Gaza.
Field Developments
Israeli forces opened fire towards agricultural lands in the east of Khan Yunis, in a new violation of the ceasefire agreement, according to local sources.
The PIC reporter said that Israeli gunboats fired several shells towards the coast of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
In the past few days, Israeli forces have repeatedly fired gunshots and shells at several areas of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the martyrdom of four citizens and the injury of around 20 others.
Meanwhile, civil defense crews and volunteers continue to search for missing persons in accessible areas, amid appeals for providing Gaza with experts and special equipment to help the local authorities recover bodies and remove debris and rubble.
Mahmoud Bassel, the spokesman for the civil defense authority, said that their teams had recovered about 250 bodies of martyrs from the streets and roads of Gaza City and northern Gaza during the past five days of the temporary ceasefire.
In news remarks, Bassel stated that 90 percent of these bodies are decomposed and unidentified due to their prolonged presence on the streets, as the ambulance and civil defense crews were unable to reach and recover them due to the intensity of Israeli airstrikes and the ground incursion into different areas of Gaza City and its north.
Since the first moment the temporary ceasefire agreement came into effect, civil defense crews have been dispatched to areas they are able to reach in Gaza City and the northern parts of the Strip where there are no Israeli tanks and vehicles, according the spokesman.
“The scenes were painful and shocking,” he added, noting that there are many areas where civil defense crews are not able to reach due to many risks.
According to Palestinian journalists, the IOF opens fire, without hesitation, at anything that moves, including citizens who attempt to reach their homes to inspect them, such as those in the vicinity of the Jerusalem Hospital in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, and the Hospitals of Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasser in the Nasr neighborhood in the north of Gaza City, as well as in other areas adjacent to the Israeli security fence in the east and north of the Strip.
