US working to extend four-day ceasefire
US President Joe Biden says his administration is working to extend the four-day fighting truce between Israel and Hamas.
“Our goal is to make this pause in the fight last longer than until tomorrow,” Biden said on Sunday evening American time via X, formerly Twitter. “So that we will see more hostages coming out and we can provide more humanitarian aid to the people who need it.”
Biden’s comments came after both Hamas and Israel made it clear on Sunday that they were open to extending the truce, which is set to expire on Monday. Hamas wants to extend the truce by two to four days and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced after a telephone conversation with Biden that Israel will agree to a one-day extension for every ten hostages that Hamas releases.
Since the start of the fighting lull on Friday morning, Israel has released 117 Palestinian prisoners and Hamas has released 58 hostages.