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A truce between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth and final day today. Over the first three days of the truce, Hamas has released a total of 58 hostages in exchange for the release of 117 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas says it is seeking to extend the current four-day pause in fighting with Israel and Israel’s Prime Minister has also said the original agreement could be extended. Under the terms of the original truce agreement, Hamas needs to release an additional 10 hostages for each additional day’s pause in the fighting.
More Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are due to be released today, on the final day of the current truce period. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has said the US will push to extend the pause in fighting, allowing more hostages to be released and aid to reach Gaza.
UN confirms more aid entering Gaza as humanitarian pause holds
Sixty-one trucks hauled aid to northern Gaza on Saturday – the largest number since 7 October, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The freight included food, water and emergency medical supplies. Eleven ambulances, 3 coaches and a flatbed were delivered to Al Shifa hospital to be used to assist with evacuations.
Also on Saturday, another 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitzana, with 187 of them successfully entering Gaza by 19:00 local time.
In addition, 129,000 liters of fuel crossed into Gaza, said the UN humanitarian affairs office, known as OCHA.
A multi-actor effort
None of these deliveries would have been possible without the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent Societies, the UN office noted, paying tribute to the actions of the multiple parties involved in the effort.
The longer the pause lasts, the more aid will be sent in and across Gaza, OCHA said in a press statement.
Welcoming the release of more hostages that happened on Saturday, OCHA renewed the call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
“And we hope the release of more Palestinian detainees brings relief to their families and loved ones,” the statement added.
The humanitarian pause has been in place since Friday morning and UN teams and partners have been able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza.