Israel and Hamas Extend Cease-Fire in Gaza for Seventh Day; Violence in West Bank Raises Tension
The Qatari government announced early Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the temporary cease-fire in Gaza for a seventh day, just before the previous two-day extension was set to expire. The truce has held in Gaza, pausing the brutal war sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, but violence in the other Palestinian territory, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and in Jerusalem has been keeping tension high on Thursday.
According to Israeli police, three people were killed in a shooting attack on a crowded Jerusalem bus stop, which a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, quickly blamed on Hamas. Ben-Gvir told reporters at the scene of the attack that “These are apparently Hamas operatives, who speak here with two voices — one voice of a so-called cease-fire and a second voice of terror.” Police said the two gunmen were killed by Israeli soldiers at the scene.
In a statement Hamas appeared to at least support the attack, if not claim responsibility for it, saying: “As we mourn our martyrs, we confirm that this operation came as a natural response to the unprecedented occupation crimes” of Israel.
Hours earlier, Majed Al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said in a statement that the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would continue for at least one more day under the same parameters established last week.
Frantic talks were held in Doha involving Qatari, Egyptian, and U.S. mediators in an effort to try to extend the pause, with both Israel and Hamas indicating they would be open to another deal. Under the current arrangement, about three Palestinian prisoners are being released in the West Bank for every one hostage freed.
While the truce continues in Gaza, violence in the West Bank, including the killing of two Palestinian boys, is raising tensions in the region. The temporary cease-fire has enabled the release of dozens of hostages and has been widely lauded by the international community, but there have been ongoing clashes and violence outside Gaza.
Netanyahu said that after all the hostages are returned by Hamas, Israel’s operations in Gaza would resume. “There is no situation in which we do not go back to fighting until the end,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
More than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says almost 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s retaliatory ground incursion and airstrikes.