After two last-minute extensions, the enemies on Thursday marked the seventh day of a Qatari-mediated truce with the exchange of eight hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners as well as the infusion of more humanitarian aid into the shattered Gaza Strip.
The Wall Street Journal, citing Egyptian officials, on Friday said Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the truce for an eighth day in a deal that will involve the release of more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report and there was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas.
Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was open to continuing the ceasefire if Hamas committed to further hostage releases. Israel had previously set the release of 10 hostages a day as the minimum it would accept to pause its assault.
"We're ready for all possibilities. Without that, we're going back to the combat," he said on CNN.
Palestinians visit their houses destroyed in the Israeli bombings during the temporary ceasefire. (AP PHOTO)
Before the prior truce was due to expire early on Thursday, Hamas and its ally, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, put their fighters on alert for a resumption of hostilities.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the October 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1200 people and took 240 hostages.
Israel retaliated with intense bombardment and a ground invasion. Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed.
When the ceasefire first came into effect a week ago, Israel was preparing to turn the focus of its operation to southern Gaza after its relentless seven-week assault to the north.
With fewer Israeli women and children left in captivity, lengthening the truce could require setting new terms for Hamas to release Israeli men, including soldiers.
The militant group could in turn seek to have Palestinian male prisoners handed over. So far, three Palestinian prisoners have been freed for each Israeli hostage.
One of Qatar's lead negotiators, career diplomat Abdullah Al Sulaiti, who helped broker the truce through marathon shuttle negotiations, acknowledged in a recent Reuters interview the uncertain odds of keeping the guns silent.
"At the beginning I thought achieving an agreement would be the most difficult step," he said in an article that detailed the behind-the-scenes efforts for the first time. "I've discovered that sustaining the agreement itself is equally challenging."
Thursday's releases brought the totals freed during the truce to 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Among the newly released were six women aged 21 to 40 including one Mexican-Israeli dual national and 21-year-old Mia Schem, who holds both French and Israeli citizenship.
The other two newly released hostages were a brother and sister, Belal and Aisha al-Ziadna, aged 18 and 17 respectively, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. They are Bedouin Arab citizens of Israel and among four members of their family taken hostage while they were milking cows on a farm.
The truce has allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million people was reduced to wasteland in the Israeli assault.
More fuel and 56 trucks of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza on Thursday, Israel's defence ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
But deliveries of food, water, medical supplies and fuel remain far below what is needed, aid workers say.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the sight of a shooting in Jerusalem. (EPA PHOTO)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Israel during his third visit to the Middle East since the war began, agreed that the flow of aid into Gaza was not sufficient.
Blinken said he told Netanyahu that Israel cannot repeat in south Gaza the massive civilian casualties and displacement of residents it inflicted in the north.
