Israel says it is open to extending pause in war

Palestinian Territories – AFP

Israel said Monday it was open to extending the pause in its war against Palestinians living in Gaza if Hamas continued to release captive Israelis.

US President Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have all joined a global chorus demanding that the break be extended.

Israel had put Hamas “on notice” that an “option for an extension” of the truce was open in order to bring home 50 more Israelis in the coming days, government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters, potentially implying a five-day extension.

Hamas has so far released 39 Israelis.

Israel has freed 117 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. A further 19 foreign nationals have also been released from Gaza under separate arrangements.

“That’s our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza,” Biden said Sunday.

Hamas has signalled its willingness to extend the truce, with a source telling AFP the group told mediators they were open to prolonging it by “two to four days”.

“The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners” in that time, the source close to the movement said.

In another sign of mounting international concern, UN rights experts called Monday for independent investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October 7.

Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture, issued a joint statement stressing the need for “prompt, transparent and independent investigations”.