**Hamas releases third group of hostages, including American girl, willing to prolong truce**
A source close to Hamas said the group was willing to prolong the pause after releasing a third group of hostages, including a four-year-old American girl, on Sunday.
The truce, which started on Friday, allowed the release of 17 hostages on Israeli territory after the latest release. One of the hostages, an 80-year-old woman, was admitted to the hospital as her life was in danger.
US President Joe Biden announced that among those freed is a four-year-old American girl, Abigail, whose parents were murdered by Hamas during the attacks.
In total, 39 Israelis have been freed under the deal since Friday in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails over the past two days.
Israel faced mounting pressure to extend the truce mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that it would be helpful and necessary to extend the truce until all hostages, including French nationals, are freed.
Biden expressed a similar hope, stating that they would like to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.
A source close to Hamas said the group was willing to prolong the pause and informed the mediators that the resistance movements were willing to extend the current truce by two to four days in hopes of ensuring the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners.
However, Israeli leaders tempered hopes of a lasting halt to the offensive, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that they would continue the offensive until the end, vowing to free all the hostages and “eliminate Hamas”.
The truce has allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials, but UNRWA warned of “unprecedented” humanitarian needs, estimating that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.