A four-day truce brokered by Egypt and Qatar between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip went on yesterday for the second day in a row.
Having come into effect on Friday, the truce includes the swap of 50 Israeli and foreign captives in the custody of Gaza’s factions for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
On Saturday, Egypt reportedly received from the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction Hamas a list of 14 Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails.
The Palestinians included in the new list were to add to 39 others who were released from Israeli jails on Friday, the first day of implementing the truce.
The prisoner and hostage swap came amid hopes for extending the truce to open the door for peace-making between the Palestinians and the Israelis on the road to establishing a Palestinian state.
On Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi suggested the recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Speaking at a press briefing with the Belgian and Spanish prime ministers in Cairo, the Egyptian leader said as a concept, the revival of peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis had lost its significance.
The president’s remarks came as consensus kept building around the world that the establishment of a Palestinian state that lives in peace side by side with Israel is an inescapable solution for the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7 have left most of Gaza in ruins and over 14,000 people dead and thousands of others injured. Most of those killed were civilians, especially women and children, leading to an international outcry and condemnation of the Israeli military.
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