Friday 27 / December / 2024
Tel Aviv: The Israeli government has approved the inclusion of 50 women prisoners in the list of prisoners eligible for release as part of an agreement to extend a temporary truce with Hamas in Gaza, reported The Times of Israel.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made this announcement on X, stating, "The Government has approved the inclusion of 50 female prisoners in the list of prisoners eligible to be released in the event that a release of additional Israeli hostages is carried out."
The government approved the list of these 50 female prisoners to secure the release of nearly 20 more Israelis held hostage by the Hamas group since October 7, reported The Times of Israel.
The truce will be extended by two days, and Qatar and the US confirmed this and will see the release of about 10 more Israeli hostages per day.
As per the initial four-day truce agreement, which will expire today (Tuesday), Israel agreed to halt its military operations in Gaza for four days and emphasized that it would release three Palestinian security prisoners for each of the 50 hostages freed from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
Since Friday, over 50 hostages have now been released, whereas, 117 Palestinians have been freed.
US President Joe Biden on Monday welcomed the additional two-day truce between Israel and Hamas after Qatar's successful mediation.
Biden issued a statement, welcoming the extended truce, as reported by The Times of Israel.
"I have remained deeply engaged over the last few days to ensure that this deal--brokered and sustained through extensive US mediation and diplomacy--can continue to deliver results," the US President said.
Moreover, Qatar also successfully negotiated an agreement between Israel and Hamas to extend the four-day truce between them by an additional two days, Doha's foreign ministry spokesperson said.
"The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," posted spokesperson Majed Al Ansari on X.
