The ceasefire is in danger of expiring on Friday morning: Hamas is running out of hostages

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Hamas is running out of hostages. Heated negotiations on Thursday ultimately saved another day of ceasefire. Instead of Israel’s required minimum of ten hostages per day, Hamas delivered only eight. After a seven-day ceasefire, the ultimatum for a further extension expires on Friday morning.

With a short trip to Tel Aviv late Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (61) tried to argue for an extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. According to reports from Israel, the terror group’s military wing has already urged its troops to prepare for battle if the ceasefire is not extended.

Israel accepted Hamas’ offer after heated discussions

The agreement between Israel and Hamas is that for an additional ten hostages released per day, the ceasefire will be extended by 24 hours. On the seventh day of the ceasefire, Hamas released only eight hostages at the last minute. Although the requirements for a new day of silence were not met, Israel accepted Hamas’ offer – two Russian-Israeli dual nationals released on Wednesday were simply added to the eight released on Thursday.

But during heated negotiations on Thursday, the terror group made no secret of its struggle to find enough hostages to meet Israeli conditions. According to CNN, Hamas claimed until the last minute that it was having difficulty securing releases. The terrorist group is in danger of no longer having significant influence in negotiating with Israel.

race against the clock

Given Thursday’s problems, negotiators fear it could be very difficult to extend the ceasefire for another eight days. Since the October 7 massacre, when Hamas captured nearly 250 children, women, men and the elderly, more than 100 of those kidnapped have been released. According to Israeli figures, 143 kidnapped people remain in the hands of the Islamists. It is unclear how many of them are still alive.

What makes ten releases a day even more difficult is that the hostages are being held in different locations. Hostages were finally released at various locations and times on Thursday. Until shortly before the expiration of the ultimatum, Hamas was unable to provide the list of the names of those released, as it had done in previous days.

The ceasefire is likely to expire on Friday morning

There is a risk that tensions will increase further on Friday. US Secretary of State Blinken said late on Thursday, referring to the ceasefire in place since last Friday: “We clearly want this process to continue. We want an eighth day and more.”

Blinken also called on Israel to establish protection zones for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip before continuing its military operations against the radical Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas. Israel must “minimize further deaths of innocent Palestinians,” Blinken said. In the southern and central Gaza Strip, he calls for “clear and precise” areas where people are “safe and out of the line of fire.”

Source: Blick