Palestinian Foreign Minister Expects Hamas-Israel Ceasefire To Be Extended

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki. (Wikimedia Commons/Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador)

JAKARTA - Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said the pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel ending Monday evening should be extended, to avoid more deaths in the Gaza Strip.

"We have efforts to keep this ceasefire going, so Israel doesn't continue to attack," al-Mallki said at a meeting of delegates from EU members and countries from North Africa and the Middle East in Barcelona, Spain. November 27.

"The ceasefire took effect with 15,000 deaths. If we see the war continuing, then the death toll will double because the concentration of the population is now doubling," he continued.

The figures quoted by Foreign Minister Maliki were not verified, which Hamas claimed did not differentiate between civilians and their members, including civilians killed as a result of wrong rocket targets.

"Gaza residents are concentrated in southern Gaza," he said, speaking in Spanish, referring to the evacuation ordered by Israel to northern Gaza aimed at minimizing civilian casualties.

"So any attack that previously killed one child, will now kill two children. That's why it's important to extend this ceasefire," he said.

Al-Malki is one of 42 representatives of various countries and territories attending the United to the Mediterranean meeting, which has focused on the raging war since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7.

The hostile break between Israel and Hamas continues Sunday with the third day of release of Gaza hostages and Palestinian prisoners. It was scheduled for four days, with what happened after Monday still uncertain.