Mediators were working to resolve a dispute between Israel and Hamas over which hostages should be released on the final of a four-day truce deal that negotiators said they were hopeful could be extended.
Egyptian and Qatari negotiators expressed optimism that they would be able to work out the disagreements and secure assurances from Israel and Hamas to extend the fragile truce and allow for the release of more Israelis held in Gaza in return for the release of Palestinians held in Israel.
International pressure is rising on Israel to extend a pause in its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave devastated by fighting that caused thousands of civilian casualties, triggered a spiraling humanitarian crisis and forced most of the two million residents from their homes.
Talks on the latest batch of hostages to be freed by Hamas have been complicated by accusations from both sides that the other isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, fueling fears that the efforts could be derailed.
Since the pause in fighting began on Friday, 39 Israelis or dual nationals, all of them women and children, have left Gaza and returned to Israel as part of the Hamas-Israel deal. An additional 19 hostages, most of them Thai citizens, have been freed under separate agreements.
More than 14,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign on October 7, according to authorities in the Hamas-run enclave. The numbers don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
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