As the truce between Hamas and Israel enters its fourth and final day Monday, both parties have discussed the possibility of extending it, a move which has the support of key nations, including the US and Qatar. In a statement released Sunday evening, Hamas said it wants "to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement." The agreed upon truce already includes a provision for an extension of one extra day for every ten hostages Hamas is ready to free. While Israel's war cabinet discussed the possibility of an extension on Sunday evening, a source told CNN, those conditions for one, as outlined in the initial truce, remain unchanged. Earlier this weekend, Qatar, which played a central role in mediating the original agreement, said it too was hoping to extend the truce. "What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases ... and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days, and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, told CNN on Saturday. In a news conference Sunday, US President Joe Biden also expressed wanting to extend the pause in fighting to try to ensure the safe release of more hostages and to get critical aid to civilians in the enclave. — CNN
