Israel And Hamas Extend Ceasefire For Another Day As Captive Exchanges Continue

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a temporary truce by another day minutes before it was set to expire, said Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides.

The truce was set to expire Thursday morning. Negotiations on extending it came down to the wire, with last-minute disagreements over the hostages to be freed by Hamas in exchange for another day of a halt in fighting.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the truce was being extended under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel released more Palestinian prisoners early Thursday after Hamas freed 16 hostages in the last such swap under the current Gaza truce as international mediators raced to strike a deal to allow further exchanges and prolong the halt of Israel’s air and ground offensive.

With the temporary truce set to expire at 7 a.m. Thursday (0500 GMT), Israel and Hamas reached a standoff over the next round of hostage releases. Hamas said Israel refused to accept a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three who the group said were killed in previous Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas said it asked its forces to be on alert for a return to combat if the truce is not renewed Thursday. Israeli media quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as saying Israel had rejected Hamas’ list.

Negotiators had been working into Thursday to hammer out details for a further extension of the truce. The expectation had been to extend the pause in fighting for at least another day or two, with the focus on releasing women and children.

The talks appear to be growing tougher as most of the women and children held by Hamas are freed, as the militants are expected to seek greater releases in return for freeing men and soldiers.

International pressure has mounted for the cease-fire to continue as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a…