Reuters quoted Egyptian security sources on Monday, November 27, 2023, as saying that the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators are close to agreeing to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip, which is scheduled to end today, amid international calls to extend it for additional days.

Egyptian sources indicated that the negotiators are working to resolve some differences regarding the duration of the extension of the truce and the list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released.

The sources stated that the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is seeking to extend the truce for four days, while Israel wants to extend it day by day as negotiations continue regarding the Palestinian prisoners it will release.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would welcome the extension of the truce if Hamas facilitated the release of 10 additional prisoners every day, as agreed upon under the original agreement brokered by Qatar, according to Reuters.

International calls to extend the truce in Gaza

Hours before the end of the temporary truce in Gaza, international calls escalated to extend it for several more days, while others called for it to be transformed into a comprehensive ceasefire and the start of a political process.

42 delegations from member states meet at the Union for the Mediterranean Forum; Member states of the European Union, the Middle East and North Africa, in the Spanish city of Barcelona, today, Monday, to discuss the Israeli war on Gaza, coinciding with the fourth and final day of the truce.

In addition, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Monday for extending the truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which entered its fourth and final day on Monday, to allow “the entry of more humanitarian aid and the release of a larger number of hostages.”

Stoltenberg told reporters: "I call for extending the truce. This will allow (the introduction of) more aid that the people of Gaza need and for the release of more hostages."

In this context, European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell said on Monday that the four-day truce is an important first step towards resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but more is needed to find a way out of the crisis.

While calling for the need to extend the temporary humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, the European official warned of “unprecedented waves of extremism and violence if the war in Gaza is not stopped.”

On Monday, Iran also called for making “the truce in the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement” permanent to ensure “a complete cessation of Israeli crimes” in the Gaza Strip.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran: “In the Islamic Republic of Iran, we want and hope, like many countries” that the truce “will enter into a permanent process and that the crimes of the Zionist entity will stop completely.”

On Friday, a temporary humanitarian truce for 4 days, subject to extension, entered into force between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

During the first 3 days of the truce, Hamas released 40 Israelis (women and children) and 18 foreigners, while Israel released 117 Palestinian prisoners (women and children) during the same period.

The truce agreement includes the release of 50 Israeli prisoners from Gaza, in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and the entry of hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian, relief, medical and fuel aid to all areas of the Strip.

From October 7 to November 23, over a period of 48 days, the Israeli army launched a devastating war on Gaza that left 14,854 Palestinians dead, including 6,150 children and more than 4,000 women, in addition to more than 36,000. Wounded, including more than 75% children and women, according to the government media office in Gaza.

source: Arabic Post