Israel and Hamas extend the ceasefire for one more day

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have agreed to extend a ceasefire for one more day, just before its scheduled end on Thursday. Bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians continued in the West Bank along the Jordan River, with the Gaza Strip maintaining its 'uneasy peace.’

According to Palestinian Wafa news agency, Israeli forces raided a building in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday, killing four people, including an 8-year-old child and a 15-year-old teenager, in an attack aimed at ‘suppressing terrorists.’ Wafa released some of the footage showing the child and teenager in pain after being shot.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that they killed two terrorists and, in the process, killed two others. The army added that the terrorists, located in a building, threw explosives, prompting the IDF to respond by shooting at the explosives. The IDF, engaged in an operation to apprehend terrorists in Jenin since Tuesday, reported the arrest of 17 Palestinians on that day.

Israeli extremists living in settlements in the West Bank continue to attack Palestinian residents. On Wednesday, a video circulated online showing a group of individuals, seemingly armed Israeli settlers, assaulting a Palestinian home in the West Bank, as reported by The Times of Israel. In the video, the armed men shouted in Hebrew, taunted, and assaulted the Palestinians. Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that the United States is “prepared to impose sanctions, including a visa ban,” on Israeli extremists who attack Palestinian civilians. John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, also strongly criticized the attack, stating, “What is happening—the killing of Palestinian civilians—is absolutely unacceptable.”

Israel and Hamas agreed Thursday to extend the ceasefire by one day until Friday, at approximately 6:50 a.m. on Thursday, just 10 minutes before the ceasefire was set to end. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his third visit to Israel since the war began, discussed with the Israeli government how to achieve a long-term ceasefire and minimize civilian casualties.


pep@donga.com