The White House confirmed Monday that Israel had agreed to extend the four-day “pause” in fighting in Gaza for two days in exchange for a Hamas promise to release 20 additional Israeli hostages over that period.
Israeli media had reported that such an agreement had been reached, citing Egyptian and Qatari mediators, but neither Israel nor U.S. mediators had confirmed the extension.
White House national security aide John Kirby confirmed to reporters that such an agreement had been reached — and also that Israel would return to fighting once the “pause” had ended. Israeli forces remain in their positions in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israel is currently waiting for the final group of 11 hostages to be released by Hamas Monday evening. There was another snag in the process, as Hamas tried to separate child hostages from their mothers, as it had done previously. Israel has insisted that families not be separated, or that mothers at least be released with their children.
Hamas still retains over a dozen children as hostages, including an infant.
On Sunday, Israeli leaders vowed to continue the fight against Hamas when the pause ends. Israel has committed to destroying Hamas’s military and governing capacity as a primary goal of the war, along with freeing the hostages and making sure that Hamas cannot control Gaza after the war.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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