Following an excruciating 48 days as a hostage in Gaza 2-year-old Aviv Asher, her sister Raz Asher, 4 and a half years old, and their mom Doron reunite with the father in the hospital. (YouTube Screenshot)
65 Israeli women and children have been released by Hamas as of Wednesday, along with 20 foreign nationals.
By World of Israel News Staff
Negotiations are underway to extend the ceasefire for two to four days, as Hamas has given a list of additional hostages they are willing to free, according to a Washington Post report on Wednesday.
The end of the temporary pause in fighting was supposed to be Thursday, but according to CNN, Hamas is “striving to extend the truce.”
As of Wednesday, 65 Israeli women and children have been released by Hamas, along with 20 foreign nationals.
In exchange, Israel has released 180 women and teenage Palestinian terrorists.
The head of the CIA, William Burns, David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met in Doha on Tuesday to discuss the terms of the ceasefire extension.
According to an Israeli official, this extension will not be construed as a step towards a permanent ceasefire.
In addition, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, Hamas outlined five categories of hostages that would be released in further ceasefires and agreements.
The hostages who have already been released are women and children.
The second group are men too old to serve in the military, the third group are women soldiers, the fourth group are male reservists and the fifth group are male soldiers, including the bodies of the three Israeli soldiers who died in captivity.
Although no formal agreements about future hostage releases have been made, the source told The Washington Post, “There is a willingness on both sides” to reach “a broad deal that would free all Israeli captives in exchange for longer pauses in fighting, release of more Palestinian prisoners and more humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.”
Although Hamas seems potentially ready to release all hostages under certain circumstances, another source says Hamas may demand that Israeli prisons be emptied of all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages taken from Israel.
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