Jerusalem: Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday said the humanitarian truce in Gaza will extend for every day the Hamas militant group releases 10 “living” hostages.
The top official’s remark came shortly after Israel and Hamas confirmed that the pause in fighting would extend for the seventh day on Thursdy as talks for the release of more hostages continued.
The announcement came minutes before the truce was set to expire at 7 a.m. (local time).
Thursday’s extension is the second of the initial four-day truce that commenced on Novermber 24.
The original four-day truce in Gaza which was first implemented on November 24 and extended for two more days on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Regev told CNN that Israel’s position on any extension of the humanitarian pause in fighting is “crystal clear”.
“Every day, we agreed to an extension for the release of 10 hostages, 10 living hostages… If Hamas continues to release hostages, 10 a day, we will extend the hold — the pause.”
When asked if the fighting would resume within the next 24 hours, Regev told CNN that “if Hamas fails to meet the conditions of the extension, which is to release 10 Israelis, then of course the fighting can be resumed”.
According to the senior advisor, there were are still at least 140 hostages inside Gaza.
He went on to say that the Jewish nation accepted the current agreement of a humanitarian pause “to get our hostages out, that could be extended each day for a day”.
Asked about negotiations on any further agreements, Regev told CNN: “This is a humanitarian pause in our fight against Hamas, Israel is determined to destroy Hamas’ military machine and its rule over Gaza.
“We are not going to play games with the lives of our people… Hamas knows what the parameters of the deal are.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that it received a new list of hostages to be released from Hamas captivity on Thursday.
“A short while ago, Israel received a list of women and children, in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the pause will resume,” the Office said.
Since the start of the pause, 210 Palestinians, 70 Israelis, and 24 foreign nationals have reportedly been released.
On Wednesday — the sixth day of the truce — 16 more hostages were released from Gaza, comprising 10 Israelis, four Thai nationals and two Israeli-Russians.
Also in the day, 30 Palestinians were also freed from Israeli jails.
–IANS