Israel says Hamas truce is in seventh day

 

 

we begin with the news that Israel's military is said a temporary pause in the fighting in Gaza will be extended for a 7th day as International mediators try to negotiate the release of more hostages the truce was due to end an hour ago at 7:00 local time however on Wednesday the sixth day of the deal 16 hostages were freed from captivity in Gaza they included two Russians 10 Israeli citizens and four Tha hos who were all handed over to the Red Cross their release was delayed by what Hamas called logistical issues on

 

On

Wednesday 30 Palestinian women and teenage boys were freed from Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages this happened as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken touched down in Tel Aviv for more talks aimed at extending the temperate true and increasing humanitarian Aid into Gaza here our middle EAS correspondent Hugo Bea the ceasefire in Gaza continues Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a temporary pausing hostilities the news came just minutes before the deal was set to expire this morning last night 16 more hostages were freed by Hamas

 

including 13-year-old Gali and Amit 16 in return 30 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails but the latest swap was overshadowed by a claim by Hamas that the youngest hostage 10-month-old baby CFI his brother Ariel and mother Shiri had been killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Israel says It's a cruel claim and that it's investigating their father yarden is still missing Israel's war cabinet gathered late last night US Secretary of State Anthony blinking arrive in t Aviv for the third time since the war started

 

to discuss an extension to the truth and more Aid to Gaza in the occupied West Bank violence continued an 8-year-old boy and a teenager aged 14 were shot dead as the Israeli Army withdrew from a military operation in Janin refugee camp the Army said it used missiles grenades and explosives killing a senior Commander for Islamic Jihad in Gaza the humanitarian crisis continues the UN says more aid needs to get in and that disease is a real threat the ceasefire continues for another day but Palestinians wonder how long it will

 

last Hugo Bea reporting there he's in Jerusalem for us I'll be speaking to him shortly but first let's go live to Southern Gaza to talk to Thomas White who's director of uh underway affair Affairs which for those who are unaware is the United Nations relief and works Agency for Palestinian refugees thank you for being on the program so I presume uh you were relieved to hear today that we have another pause another 24 hours in the pause of hostilities well it's certainly uh good news for the people of Gaza um it's

 

another day where there's a rest bite from the fighting that's taken too many lives uh and destroyed too many homes of people here in Gaza so certainly uh people are pleased that they have another day of relative quiet here in Gaza just talk us through the logistics for you as an organization, of course, you're appealing for donations for help for the huge need we're seeing on our screens on a day-to-day basis you're in Rafa based in Rafa what are the challenges you're facing well essentially unau and other

 

un agencies uh and humanitarian organizations have been overwhelmed uh by the sheer um scale of displacement into Southern Gaza uh the infrastructure the water infrastructure, for example, is totally overwhelmed with the number of people who are now in the South uh there's just not enough places for people to shelter uh in the usual schools which have been set up as temporary shelters for people we had plans that they would accommodate about 1500 people per shelter uh we're averaging over6 th000 people in our shelters in the

 

South uh as you can imagine uh the ability of those uh buildings and our staff to serve those people uh is just very very difficult to give you an example uh we're averaging um 125 people using one toilet such basic things like sanitation uh in these shelters are is very difficult uh people are jammed into very congested uh classrooms uh in the evenings and the reality is now where at one of our schools uh We've now had an outbreak of hepatitis A so we the risk of disease uh is very present uh in uh in

 

Gaza at the present time in terms of the humanitarian aid that's been able to come into Gaza since uh the truce began what difference has that made there's been a moderate increase uh of Aid into Gaza through the Rafa Crossing um the pause has also enabled us to get much needed humanitarian Aid to communities who are still in the north uh but the reality is it's not even close to what we need and just to give you an example I was at one of our shelters in Han unus uh yesterday uh people are are living off you know one

 

or two rounds of Arabic bread every day and on every second or third day there will be a food distribution which the reality is it's you know for a family it's a can of tuna or a can of cheese and that's all that's coming in so you know food insecurity um is a big problem in the South not enough Aid is coming in to support uh the overwhelming number of people who are now uh seeking shelter in Gaz in the south of Gaza okay, for now, thank you, Thomas White, their director of underway Affairs joining us live from Gaza

 

well let's go to Jerusalem now and speak to our correspondent Hugo uh Bea so Hugo uh we start a new day and once again the truce continues which is uh the good news for everybody waking up where you are today and also in Gaza but the question is what will happen today once again a tense day ahead in terms of Hostage uh prisoner exchange exactly Sally and the news of this uh extension was uh announced just minutes uh before uh the ceasefire was set to expire so I think it shows how difficult how complicated these

 

negotiations have been so the Israeli Army says that this extension has been agreed upon because of the efforts to secure the release of more hostages being held in Gaza 145 people are still in captivity in Gaza 55 days after they were abducted in Israel so uh negotiations continue the US Secretary of State Anthony blinking is in Tel Aviv uh he is going to have meetings and talks uh about how to extend uh this truth uh further and also about how to guarantee the delivery of more Aid much-needed Aid to Gaza as a humanitarian

 

crisis in the territory continues and the Israeli authorities uh have been saying that the war against Hamas is not over that they will resume uh the Israeli offensive against Hamas once this attempt temporary of pausing hostilities is over but I think again this shows how difficult these negotiations have been and I think the next phase of these talks is going to be even more difficult because it is likely to inv involve the first group of Israeli military personnel who have been abducted by Hamas so again the ceasefire

 

has been extended for another day but it shows how complex the situation is and the location of hostages that are still held makes it more complex as well Hamas talking about logistical problems that they are facing in terms of trying to meet the deadlines for exchange uh it it'll be interesting to see how today develops and those families who are desperately waiting in Israel for news exactly so again 145 people are still in captivity in Gaza and Hamas has been saying that it is not holding all

 

of them and that they are having difficulties in Loc dating uh those hostages in identifying them so this could be another obstacle uh before they are released but again I think this uh announcement today that the ceasefire has been extended for another day is going to be celebrated by the families of those hostages the relatives of those hostages waiting to see their loved ones back yesterday we saw another group of hostages being released 16 captives were freed up and returned to Israel and again was saw uh uh 30 Palestinian

 

prisoners uh women and teenagers being released from Israeli jails I think the Israelis were expecting this kind of mechanism uh to continue uh three Palestinians being freed for every Israeli hostage returned uh but again uh it will be interesting uh to see how these negotiations are going to un unfold now that we it seems that we are entering a much more difficult phase in these negotiations okay Hugo for thank you Hugo Bea in Jerusalem for us