Photo taken on Nov 29, 2023 shows destroyed buildings in Gaza city. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/CAIRO/ANKARA/DOHA - Hamas and Israel have agreed to prolong the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip for an additional day, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in the coastal enclave for an additional day under the existing conditions, the ministry spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said in a statement.

The cessation of all military activities and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza will continue, according to the statement.

In another statement to Qatar News Agency, the spokesperson confirmed that efforts aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were ongoing.  

Only eight hostages will be released by Hamas on Thursday, according to several Israeli media, as the two Israeli-Russian women released by Hamas earlier on Wednesday will be included in the hostage list for Thursday. In exchange, 30 Palestinians will be released from Israeli prisons.

Overnight, both sides just completed the sixth round of release as part of the truce agreement. A total of 14 hostages, including 10 Israelis and four Thais, were freed on Wednesday night and received by Israeli hospitals for treatment and monitoring on Thursday morning, while 30 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons.

Meanewhile, amid talks to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday that his country will resume the military campaign to eradicate Hamas.

Netanyahu noted that in the past week "a very great achievement" was made, referring to the return of dozens of hostages, among approximately 240 kidnapped by Hamas militants in their deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct 7

"There is no situation in which we do not go back to fighting until the end. This is my policy," Netanyahu said in a video statement Wednesday afternoon, adding that the entire security cabinet and government, the soldiers, and the Israeli people are all "behind it."

"From the start of the war, I set three goals: eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will never again go back to being a threat to the State of Israel. These three goals still stand," he stressed.

Netanyahu noted that in the past week "a very great achievement" was made, referring to the return of dozens of hostages, among approximately 240 kidnapped by Hamas militants in their deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct 7.

With the truce set to expire on Thursday, intensive discussions are underway to secure a second extension to the ceasefire that will see more hostages released, and more humanitarian aid delivered to Gaza. 

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Photo taken on Nov 29, 2023 shows the scene of Gaza city. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye will step up its efforts for the release of the hostages and establishment of a lasting truce in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt's State Information Service Chairman Diaa Rashwan said that so far 575 injured Gazans had been admitted to Egyptian hospitals for treatment

"We will accelerate our contacts to release the hostages and make the ceasefire permanent," Erdogan said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Turkish government continues to dispatch humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and has so far sent 12 relief planes and one ship to Egypt, according to Erdogan.

A second ship carrying 1,500 tons of humanitarian aid set sail earlier on Wednesday, according to the Turkish president.

Türkiye brought another 23 Gazan patients, along with their 21 companions, for treatment in the capital Ankara late Wednesday.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who welcomed them at Etimesgut Airport in Ankara, said Türkiye has so far received a total of 200 people from Gaza, including 114 patients and 86 companions.

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Photo taken on Nov 29, 2023 shows the scene of Gaza city. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Also on Wednesday, Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Chairman Diaa Rashwan said that so far 575 injured Gazans had been admitted to Egyptian hospitals for treatment after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in early October.

Meanwhile, 8,691 foreign and dual nationals, and 1,258 Egyptians have crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip, Rashwan said, adding that 421 Palestinians stranded in Egypt entered Gaza during the same period.

He added that 239 planes carrying humanitarian aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip had landed in Egypt's Al-Arish Airport since Oct 21.

According to Rashwan, 2,670 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid and fuel have entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Oct. 21.

He reaffirmed Egypt's continued efforts to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in order to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis there.

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A man walks among the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza city, on Nov 29, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Separately, two young men were killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, raising the death toll of Palestinians in the region to four, sources said.

According to anonymous Palestinian security sources, Mohammad Jamal al-Zabidi and Wissam Hanoun were killed in a residence at the Jenin refugee camp when the Israeli army shot heavily at the house, with explosions heard in the vicinity.

The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict has surpassed 15,000, including more than 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to Palestinian figures

The Israeli forces later took the bodies of the two men, the sources said.

An Israeli military statement said the attack was a joint campaign by the IDF, the Israel Security Agency, and the Border Police, resulting in the "elimination of two instigators," among whom was Mohammad Zabidi, the camp's leader who was involved in "terrorist activities and shooting attacks" in the area.

Wisam Bakr, director of the government hospital in Jenin, said that the Israeli forces conducted a wide military operation lasting for approximately 20 hours in the city and camp, and besieged the city's hospitals.

Israeli vehicles blocked the hospital's entrance, preventing the arrival of ambulances, while infantry soldiers closed the emergency entrance, impeding the work of medical teams, Bakr said, adding that Ibn Sina Hospital in the city was also besieged by the Israeli forces.

The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict has surpassed 15,000, including more than 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to Palestinian figures. Israel said that the Hamas attack killed about 1,200 people while more than 200 people were taken as hostages.