Israel and Hamas Extend Cease-Fire Agreement

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement to extend the temporary cease-fire in Gaza for a seventh day, the Qatari government announced early Thursday.

Majed Al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, said in a statement that the cease-fire would continue for at least one more day under the same parameters as the ongoing agreement, which sees Hamas free a group of hostages, Israel release Palestinian prisoners, and several hundred humanitarian aid trucks enter Gaza.

In a post to social media Thursday morning, Israel Defense Forces said that, given ongoing mediation efforts towards the potential release of more Hamas-held hostages, the "operational pause" in the fighting in Gaza would continue.

During the cease-fire, Israeli intelligence has been receiving a daily list of the names of the hostages who are expected to be released in each group prior to their handover. In its own statement, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that its war cabinet came to a unanimous decision Wednesday night that fighting would "be resumed immediately" if it was not given such a list on Thursday.

However, the prime minister's office said that it was provided a "list of women and children" in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue."

The short-term cease-fire between the two sides began Nov. 24. It was initially slated for four days, but was extended for another two. It was set to expire at 7 a.m. local time Thursday before being extended again for a seventh day.

Frantic talks had been held in Doha Wednesday 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. The hostages released so far have only been women and children, but it is possible that men could be included in a future deal.

Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators had been meeting in Doha to help negotiate a continued pause in hostilities and release of the hostages.

Sixteen hostages, including an American woman, were freed by Hamas Wednesday, bringing the total number of Hamas-held hostages released since the cease-fire began to about 100. Some 210 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons in return.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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