Israel, Hamas agree to extend Gaza truce for at least 1 more day

Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their six-day ceasefire by one more day to allow negotiators to keep working on deals to swap hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian detainees.

The truce has allowed much needed humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million was reduced to wasteland by Israel’s bombardment in response to a deadly attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue,” the Israeli military said in a statement, released minutes before the temporary truce was due to expire at 7 a.m., local time.

Hamas, which freed 16 hostages in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, said in a statement the truce would continue for a seventh day.

Shortly after the agreement, Israeli police said two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during morning rush hour at the entrance to Jerusalem, killing at least three people and wounding eight others. Both attackers were “neutralized,” it said.

Police said gunmen opened fire toward civilians at the bus station. Police said the gunmen were killed by security forces and a nearby civilian.

The conditions of the ceasefire, including the halt of hostilities and the entry of humanitarian aid, remain the same, according to a Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson. Qatar has been a key mediator between the warring sides, along with Egypt and the United States.

The militant group earlier said Israel had refused to receive a further seven women and children and the bodies of three other hostages in exchange for extending the truce that first went into effect on Nov. 24.

Both sides had said they were ready to resume fighting.

Blinken arrives in Israel

Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.

Before the truce, Israel bombarded the territory for seven weeks and killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health authority in the coastal strip.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv, his third trip to the region since the Oct. 7 attack, to discuss extending the pause in fighting, humanitarian aid and the exchange of more hostages.

Israel-Hamas truce extended as it was about to expire

The last day of the six-day truce came and went, both sides appeared to be readying to return to fighting but then an extension as negotiations appear to be ongoing.