A 24-year-old woman, a 73-year-old man and a woman in her 60s died this Thursday in a shooting carried out by two Palestinians at one of the entrances to Jerusalem, in which six other people were injured, three of them seriously. according to the Israeli Police.
The two attackers, Hamas members convicted and imprisoned on terrorism charges, according to information provided by the Israeli security agency, were killed at the scene of the attack by two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian.
“Two armed terrorists who arrived at the scene in a vehicle shot at civilians at the bus stop and were neutralized by soldiers and a civilian who was nearby,” a police spokesperson reported.
The Minister of National Security, the extremist Itamar Ben Gvir, visited the site of the attack where he stated that “Israel must respond to terrorism with military pressure,” in reference to the one-day extension of the truce in Gaza, to allow the release of more hostages.
Today’s attack occurs in a very tense atmosphere in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in parallel to the war in Gaza.
10 hostages for 30 Palestinian prisoners
Minutes before the deadline expired, at 7:00 a.m. (5:00 GMT) today, Qatar announced the extension for one more day of the humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began on Friday and expired this Thursday.
“The Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for one more day (today, Thursday) under the same previous conditions,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al Ansari said in a statement. a statement.
According to the note, the extension of the pause “has been reached within the framework of joint mediation by the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States.”
The terms of the agreement state that Hamas must release at least 10 hostages for each additional day of pause in fighting; while Israel must release 30 Palestinian prisoners for every dozen kidnapped.
Blinken meets with Israeli president to discuss truce
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met this Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on his fourth visit to Israel since the war with Hamas broke out on October 7, to address the release of hostages and the truce in Loop.
“From day one, we focused tirelessly on trying to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza” at the hands of Hamas, said Blinken, who highlighted that there was “a very positive development in the last week,” referring to the release of 97 hostages – 73 Israelis and 24 foreigners – in exchange for the release of 210 Palestinian prisoners.
The Secretary of State has assured that, by virtue of the extension of the truce, the release of hostages “should continue today”, as well as the arrival of humanitarian aid for the civilian population of the enclave.
On the other hand, Blinken told Herzog that during his stay he plans to “have detailed conversations with the Government of Israel about the path forward in Gaza.”
The Israeli authorities insist that after the ceasefire and the release of more hostages they will resume the attacks.
BY NADEEM FAISLA BAIGA
