Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating truce after hostage deal extended
Israel’s military has said that some of its soldiers were injured after coming under fire in Gaza, while Hamas claimed Israel had violated the truce after it was extended for two days.
The Israel Defence Forces said on the Telegram messaging app that “three explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in two different locations” in northern Gaza on Tuesday, “contrary to the ceasefire agreements”.
Israel said that its troops had been approached and had fired a warning shot, but had stayed within the ceasefire lines.
“As a result of the enemy violating the terms of the truce today, there has been a field clash today and our mujahedeen dealt with the violation,” the Hamas-run TV channel al Aqsa quoted Hamas military wing spokesperson, Abu Obaida, as saying.
“We are committed to the truce as long as the enemy is.”
With both sides expressing hope of further extensions and more hostages due for release on Tuesday, mediator Qatar hosted the spy chiefs from Israel’s Mossad and the CIA at a meeting to “build on progress”, a source briefed on the visits told Reuters.
A column of black smoke could be seen rising above the wasteland of the northern Gaza war zone from across the fence in Israel, but for a fifth day there was no sign of jets in the sky or rumble of explosions.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their truce until Wednesday, with Hamas saying ten hostages would be released on Tuesday in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners, although Israel has not confirmed this. A senior Hamas source in Qatar told the BBC another 10 hostages would be released on Wednesday.
Eleven Israeli women and children freed by Hamas entered Israel on Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce.
Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah and were greeted by cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.
Further extensions of the truce would also allow more aid into Gaza, which has been battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment. But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas’ military capabilities after about 240 hostages were captured by Hamas in its 7 October attack on southern Israel.
Meanwhile, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas has become for many a symbol of the brutality of Hamas’s attack having spent nearly a fifth of his life in captivity.
The youngest Hamas hostage was abducted from his home in a southern Israeli kibbutz among about 30 children who were taken into captivity. Hamas has released women, children and teenagers, but baby Kfir has not been included on the lists of those set to be freed.
With most other young hostages already released, Kfir’s fate and that of his four-year-old brother, Ariel, are now a rallying cry for Israelis seeking the speedy release of all the hostages. A demonstration in support of the Bibas family was being held in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
“There is no precedent for something like this, for a baby who was kidnapped when he was nine months old,” Eylon Keshet, Kfir’s father’s cousin, told reporters on Tuesday. “Is baby Kfir the enemy of Hamas?”
This story is being updated
