Israel will extend the truce for each day that Hamas continues to release 10 “living” hostages, a senior Israeli official reiterated Thursday.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN Israel’s position on any extension of the humanitarian pause in fighting is “crystal clear.”
“Every day, we agreed to an extension for the release of 10 hostages, 10 living hostages,” Regev said. “If Hamas continues to release hostages, 10 a day, we will extend the hold — the pause.”
When asked if the fighting would resume within the next 24 hours, Regev said, “if Hamas fails to meet the conditions of the extension, which is to release 10 Israelis, then of course the fighting can be resumed.”
There are still at least 140 hostages inside Gaza, Regev said. Israel accepted the current agreement of a humanitarian pause “to get our hostages out, that could be extended each day for a day,” he said.
Asked about negotiations on any further agreements, Regev said, “This is a humanitarian pause in our fight against Hamas, Israel is determined to destroy Hamas’ military machine and its rule over Gaza.”
“We are not going to play games with the lives of our people,” Regev said. “Hamas knows what the parameters of the deal are.”
AP
