Israel and Hamas ceasefire extension to secure release of 20 more hostages

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a ceasefire by an additional two days as part of a deal that will include the group's release of more hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, a senior White House official confirmed.

The ceasefire will be extended through Thursday morning in Israel, and will include the release of an additional 20 hostages by Hamas, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The current ceasefire started last Friday and was set to end Monday before both sides agreed to the extension. As part of the initial deal Hamas released 13 Israeli hostages on Friday and an additional 26 hostages over the weekend, including four-year-old Avigail Idan, a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen whose parents were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

"Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days" as part of the ceasefire extension, Kirby said.

But Kirby said the United States does not know if Hamas plans to release any of the Americans it is holding under the terms of the new agreement. Approximately nine Americans are being held hostage in Gaza.

President Biden was directly engaged with Qatar and other allies in negotiating the ceasefire extension over the weekend, Kirby said.

"President Biden has been personally involved in getting the original deal in place as well as loosening a snag" in talks over the extension, he said.

Confirmation of the extension first came from the Qatari Foreign Ministry, whose spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that, "as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip."

The comment was quickly followed by confirmation from Hamas' media office.

"Hamas declares that it has agreed with Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for an additional two days under the same conditions reached before," the group said in a statement.

Contacted for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) referred Newsweek to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which declined to comment.

Israeli officials have yet to publicly confirm the development. Netanyahu has expressed his desire to extend the truce, though he and his administration have emphasized that they would not call off the offensive in Gaza permanently unless Hamas surrendered or was decisively defeated.

Earlier on Monday, the IDF shared with reporters a list of 117 Palestinian prisoners released in the days since the initial ceasefire deal.

Hamas has released 58 hostages throughout the span of the truce, and the group identified three more set to be freed on Monday.

The agreement marks the latest effort to halt the deadliest flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict while allowing for more humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip, which has been subject to Israeli attacks by land, air and sea since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

Israeli officials say around 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 242 taken hostage in the Hamas assault. Officials in Gaza estimate that more than 14,500 have been killed in the Hamas-run territory since the war began.