Israel-Hamas war: Gaza truce extended by 2 days, US says

For the latest DW coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, head to Tuesday's live blog

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed that two German teenagers were among the hostages released by the militant-Islamist group Hamas on Monday.

"After 52 days of suffering and despair, their mothers are able to take them in their arms again," Baerbock wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "My thoughts are with those families who continue to worry. We are doing everything we can to ensure they can hold their loved ones in their arms again as well."

Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by Germany, the US, Israel and others, handed over 11 hostages to the International Red Cross on Monday. In return, Israel released 33 Palestinian prisoners. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 11 hostages released by the militant-Islamist group Hamas have arrived inside Israeli territory.

"After they undergo an initial medical assessment, our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families," the IDF said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The IDF went on to say that "together with the entire Israeli security establishment, [it] will continue operating until all the hostages are returned home."

Qatar Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said on X that 33 Palestinians in Israeli prisons will be freed in exchange for the release of the 11 Israeli hostages. 

The Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli prisons include 30 minors and three women, Al Ansari said.

He also noted that the Israeli hostages being freed include three French citizens, two German citizens and six Argentinian citizens.    

The next group of hostages to be released, in line with the agreement between militant-Islamist Hamas and Israel, has been handed over to the Red Cross, the Israeli army said.

The group includes 11 hostages who have been held in Gaza since Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on October 7.

Both the United States and the United Nations have expressed their support for the extension of the humanitarian pause in fighting in Gaza.

Qatar announced the extension earlier on Monday, but it had not yet been confirmed by Israel at the time of the comments from the White House and UN chief Antonio Guterres.

"Of course, we welcome the announcement," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the extension, saying: "It's a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war and I strongly hope that these will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that is suffering so much."

Without more time, "it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population in Gaza," he added.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described his current visit to Israel as "difficult, but necessary." One Kibbutz Be'eri resident explained how grateful she is for Germany's solidarity following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. 

DW's Rosalia Romaniec spoke with Sofie Berzon MacKie, the director of the now-destroyed Be'eri Art Gallery, in the kibbutz.

MacKie called Steinmeier's visit to the Kibbutz "a vote of confidence in our ability to rebuild our lives and giving us something to dream of and to look forward to."

Asked whether the Be'eri community will return and rebuild, she told DW: "If the security situation is resolved in a way that we can live peacefully here, then the majority of the community would love — and even cannot wait — to come home and clean this up and continue living our lives."

MacKie highlighted the importance of rebuilding the Be'eri Art Gallery: "I think art and culture are really one of the most important arenas that humanity has to develop [and] understand and have dialogue about its story in a non-violent, in an elegant, in a diverse way."

She also said that it was important that the violence of October 7 doesn't result in people losing their humanity.

"I think that if we lose faith in humanity because an extreme violent group did this horrifying thing, then it would be a great loss," she told DW. "If... I am consumed now by hate and revenge and I lost all compassion for anyone who is not us, we have lost something that I am not willing to lose."

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend truce for two more days.

"An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Hamas also said it agreed to a two-day extension.

"An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce," a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.

There were no immediate comments from Israel. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the families of the hostages to be released on Monday had been informed.

It did not say how many of the hostages held by Hamas militants would be released.

Egypt and Qatar were close to reaching a deal to extend a truce between Israeli and Hamas for another two days, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) said. 

"There are serious efforts" to extend the truce, Rashwan told the German press agency, dpa. 

He said it would include the release of a further 20 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 60 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The initial temporary cease-fire took effect Friday and saw 58 hostages being held in Gaza freed and 117 Palestinian prisoners released so far. 

Israel said another 184 people remain in captivity in Gaza.

The truce also saw the delivery of aid and fuel to the besieged Gaza Strip.

During his trip to Israel, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said propaganda "that is convincing people to engage in, you know, murder" needs to be stopped.

He accompanied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to the Kfar Aza kibbutz targeted by Hamas militants in their deadly terror attack on southern Israel in which around 1200 people were killed. The terror attacks by Hamas on October 7 led to Israel's current military operation in Gaza.  

"Those that are intent on murder must be neutralized," Musk said, according to the Reuters news agency.

"The propaganda must stop that is training people to be murderers in the future. And then, making Gaza prosperous. And if that happens, I think it will be a good future." 

Musk was also due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who's now part of a special wartime
Cabinet.

"In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online," Herzog's office said in a statement.

Civil rights groups have recentlyaccused Musk of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators closed in on an extension of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian security sources told the Reuters news agency. The truce is set to end tonight at midnight local time.

According to the AFP news agency, Hamas has informed mediators that they are willing to extend the truce by "two to four days."

Israel has previously said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every ten additional hostages released.

On Monday, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said the "option for extension is open."

"We want to receive another additional 50 hostages beyond tonight, on our way to bringing everyone home," Levy said

He added the military campaign against Hamas would resume immediately with the end of a truce.

UN rights experts have urged an independent investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.

"Independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict," Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture, said in a joint statement.

They urged the international community to ensure that those responsible for serious human rights violations, especially those with command responsibility, are promptly brought to justice.

They said perpetrators could be charged by courts in any country as war crimes and crimes against humanity fall under so-called universal jurisdiction.

"We encourage all states to play a proactive role in identifying key suspected perpetrators and helping to facilitate prosecutions through the principle of mutual legal assistance," they said.

Israel has previously denied it committed war crimes during its military operations against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has denied that it targeted civilians during its terror attacks on Israel on October 7. 

Several international leaders have called on Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas to extend their truce to allow for more aid into Gaza and the release of hostages from the strip.

Qatar, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and Spain were all working to extend the four-day cease-fire, the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said, according to Reuters.

Speaking at the same event as al-Malki, the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean (UfM), EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said he hoped a truce would last "a few more days."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for a halt in the fighting in Gaza to be prolonged to allow for more aid and the release of hostages.

"I call for an extension of the pause. This would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages," Stoltenberg said.

He also said Iran, which also called for a permanent cease-fire on Monday, should rein in its "proxies." Tehran is a known supporter of Israel-opposed militant groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Qatar, who mediated the original agreement, has expressed hopes for an extended truce beyond the initially agreed four days.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said the goal was "to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza."

Under the truce, 58 hostages being held in Gaza were freed, and 117 Palestinian prisoners were released since Friday.

Israel and Hamas have signaled their willingness to extend the deal beyond midnight, but no concrete announcements have been made.

According to Reuters, an Israeli government spokesperson said on Monday that 184 hostages were still held in Gaza, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual nationality. 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has visited the Be'eri kibbutz with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The kibbutz near Gaza was one of those targeted by Hamas militants in their deadly October 7 terror attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.

"Being here means that we are able to witness how much this soul of Israel was touched and destroyed by the attack of Hamas on Israeli people and the Kibbutz of Be'eri and the neighboring Kibbutzim close by," Steinmeier said.

He announced that the German parliament had allocated €7 million ($7.6 million) to rebuild the kibbutz Be'eri art gallery, which was destroyed in the Hamas attack.

On Sunday, Steinmeier pledged Germany's unwavering support for Israel in its war in Gaza saying Berlin stood in "solidarity with Israel."

"It is not only with Israel as a victim of terror. Our solidarity is also with the Israel that defends itself, that fights against an existential threat," Steinmeier said.