Israel and Hamas near two-day ceasefire extension as fears of flare-up mount
The truce between the warring sides is set to expire on Monday unless a deal is reached in time.
Egypt, Qatar and the US are close to a deal that would extend the four-day truce in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, it has been reported.
Security sources from Egypt told Reuters that the three countries are close on finalizing a deal for the Levantine neighbors to continue the four-day ceasefire set to expire on Monday.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service, says the two-day continuation would see the release of 20 Israeli hostages for 60 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, is seeking a four-day extension.
Israel, which has been pummeling Gaza since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7, wants day-by-day extensions, the Egyptian sources said.
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On Sunday, Hamas called for "an extension of the truce after the conclusion of the four-day period, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from captivity as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement".
An Israeli official, meanwhile, suggested that Israel would agree to an extra day of ceasefire for every 10 hostages freed, at which point it would release three times the number of Palestinians. They capped the number of extra truce days at five, Reuters reports.
Hamas has so far released 58 hostages, including 17 Thai nationals, in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, Israel said Hamas still had about 184 hostages, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual citizenship.
Both sides are still working out who will be released today.
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The ceasefire came as international pressure mounted, with images of the destruction heaped on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza by the Israeli military continue circulating rapidly on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas with "full force" for the attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis last month.
Since then, international perception of the war has shifted as the force of Israel's response has been questioned. Thirty-seven United Nations experts have called the situation in Gaza a "genocide in the making," and US researchers have estimated that about a quarter of all structures in the tiny strip are damaged.
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