Truce Extended For 24hrs As US' Blinken Visits Again

Israel and Hamas have extended their temporary truce by another day, with Hamas-held hostages set to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The initial four-day truce announced last week stated that the truce would be extended by 24 hours in exchange for each 10 Hamas-held hostages released (which would also see 30 Palestnian prisoners released). The exact terms of this newest truce extension remain unclear.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is visiting Israel for the fourth time since the 7 Oct Hamas attacks. Praises the truce extension, stating that it “means that more hostages will be coming home, more assistance will be getting in. Clearly, that’s something we want. I believe it’s also something that Israel wants. They’re also intensely focused on bringing their people home.”
• A continued cycle of 24hr extensions has been widely welcomed, but hardly presents a stable base for assessing whether Israel's assault on Gaza will continue over the long term. NYT notes: "A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks, said there were currently no negotiations aimed at a long-term cease-fire. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the war would continue. But two people with knowledge of the talks in Qatar said that beyond yet another short-term extension, the mediators hoped to keep the war on pause for as long as possible to create conditions they hoped would allow for negotiations over a longer-term cease-fire."