Israel-Hamas Agree To Extend Ceasefire One Day In Last Minutes

Israeli hostages are released by the Hamas group. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Israel managed to agree on an extension of the ceasefire between the two sides on the Gaza Strip battleground for one day, according to related parties on Thursday.

Qatar, the main mediator of the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, confirmed the extension in a statement.

"The Palestinians and Israelis have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for one additional day," Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that negotiations continued in the hope of achieving a full ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

The extension agreement was reached tough, because the list of Hamas hostages to be released has not yet been approved by Israel. An Israeli source told Channel 12, if until the deadline for the hostage list agreement does not change, Israel will continue the war, quoted from The Times of Israel.

Israel's focus on the release of hostages between women and children. An Israeli official told Ynet, "if a complete list that meets the requirements is accepted, we can continue the ceasefire."

The official said it was possible Hamas would meet these requirements. Later, the Prime Minister's Office said a ceasefire in Gaza would continue, after recently receiving a list containing 10 hostages of women and children who would be released from Gaza in accordance with agreed ceasefire rules.

"Given the efforts of the mediators to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the provisions of the framework, the operational pause will continue," the Israeli military said in a statement, released minutes before the ceasefire ended at 12.00 local time.

It is known, so far the Hamas group has released about 93 hostages. Meanwhile, Israel has released about 210 prisoners.

It said, with fewer Israeli women and children being detained, an extension of the ceasefire required setting new requirements for the release of Israeli men, including soldiers.