The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced its intention to reach a new truce agreement with Israel, under which the group would release more hostages beyond the women and children already freed. These statements were made late Monday by Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas leader, coinciding with Israel's expansion of the list of Palestinian female detainees that could be released in exchange for hostages, indicating that the terms of the truce are being reconsidered.
Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera, "We hope that the occupation will comply in the coming days because we are frankly seeking to enter into a new deal beyond women and children, so that we can exchange other groups that we have." He added that there is an effort "to move towards an additional duration to complete the exchange process with those we can exchange at this stage."
On Monday, the truce, initially agreed upon for four days, was extended for an additional two days. Under the agreement mediated by Qatar and Egypt last week, Hamas released 50 Israeli women and children who were held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, with the option to double these numbers if the truce is extended for five days.
Israel had previously published the names of 300 Palestinian women and male minors detained, for potential release. Officials stated that the Israeli government added the names of 50 female detainees to that list late Monday. However, government spokespersons have not yet responded when asked for clarification on the new number, which is not divisible by three, suggesting that a new exchange formula is being worked on.
