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Israel is mulling an extension of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza as it seeks to bring back the remaining 63 hostages, while putting off the deal on the future of the Strip for the time being, Reuters reported, quoting Israeli officials.
The first phase of the 42-day truce deal that was brokered with the help of Egyptian and Qatari mediators amid US backing is due to end on Saturday, with uncertainty looming over what could follow.
“We are being very cautious,” Reuters quoted Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel as saying. Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem on the possible extension of the ceasefire agreement, Haskel said, “There wasn’t a particular agreement on that, but it might be a possibility.”
“We didn’t close the option of continuing the current ceasefire, but in return for our hostages, and they have to be returned safely,” she reportedly said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, meanwhile, has also informed his 20 European Union counterparts in Brussels that Israel is open to extending the ceasefire if more hostages are released, according to a statement from his office cited by The Times of Israel.
“It will not happen without the release of hostages,” Sa’ar said in his meetings with the Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Finnish, and Slovakian foreign ministers.
“We are committed to the release of our hostages and to the war’s objectives that we set,” Gideon Sa’ar said, per Times of Israel.
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