Israel, Hamas exchange more detainees as ceasefire extended 2 more days

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Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their ceasefire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and of a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began Friday and was due to run out today.

Hours later, a Red Cross bus carrying 33 Palestinians released from prison by Israel  — Hamas-affiliated media reported they were 30 children and three women — arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah early Tuesday. They were greeted by loud cheers from crowds surrounding the bus as it made its way through the streets of the city.

The deal for two additional days of ceasefire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar — a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt — Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension "under the same terms."

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas's military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Monday's releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

Among those released over the weekend were the wife and three children of Avichai Brodutch.

Aharon Brodutch, who lives in Toronto, was in Israel to see his brother, Avichai, reunited with his family after seven weeks of anxious waiting, which included several hours on Saturday where the deal to free hostages appeared to be in jeopardy due to disagreements over aid deliveries into Gaza.

"We knew that things were not certain until we saw them," said Aharon Brodutch, who was waiting at the Schneider Children's Medical Centre, alongside families of other hostages, for the helicopter transporting them to touch down.

Hagar Brodutch, 38, and children Ofri, 10, Uval, 8, and Uriah, 4, finally met again with Avichai, who has held a one-man vigil outside Israel's Defence Ministry building in Tel Aviv in recent weeks. 

"Extremely emotional," Aharon Brodutch said of the reunion. "You could see on Hagar's face what a tough time she's had there."

The Brodutches were taken from their home in Kfar Aza, an Israeli farming community of 750 that was brutalized during the Oct. 7 attack.