A Red Cross automobile carrying Israeli hostages drives by on the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

Fatima Shbair/AP

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A Red Cross automobile carrying Israeli hostages drives by on the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

Fatima Shbair/AP

TEL AVIV, Israel — Hamas says it desires to increase a brief cease-fire with Israel in Gaza in hopes of securing the discharge of extra Palestinian prisoners in change for hostages it seized in its Oct. 7 assault on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video posted after the Hamas assertion got here out, mentioned he was open to an extension of the cease-fire if Hamas freed 10 hostages per day. Previously, Israel has mentioned it might prolong the deal for as much as 10 days.

In a press release posted to the social media platform Telegram, the Islamist militant group mentioned it was “seeking to extend the truce after the end of the four-day period” which began on Friday and is to finish on Monday.

The Hamas announcement got here hours after it freed a 4-year-old woman whose mother and father had been killed within the Oct. 7 assault on Israel, together with 12 different Israelis, three Thais and a twin Israeli Russian citizen.

In return, Israel launched 39 Palestinians, together with one Gaza resident who was handed over on the Egyptian border, whereas the others had been delivered close to Ofer Prison and the Jerusalem detention heart within the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

A spokesman for Qatar’s overseas ministry mentioned on X (previously often known as Twitter) that among the many hostages freed had been a South African lady and two people from Hungary.

The younger woman, Abigail Mor Edan, turned 4 in captivity on Friday. She is a twin U.S.-Israeli citizen. The unidentified Israeli Russian was freed first in response to “efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause,” Hamas mentioned in a press release earlier. The others had been freed afterward.

President Biden confirmed Abigail had been freed however didn’t present details about her well-being. Speaking to reporters from Nantucket, Mass., the place he was spending the Thanksgiving vacation, Biden mentioned: “What she endured is unthinkable.”

Biden famous that Abigail’s mom was killed in entrance of her in final month’s assault and that when she ran to her father, he was gunned down whereas shielding her.

“Thank God she’s home,” Biden mentioned. “I just can’t imagine the enjoyment, and I just – I wish I were there to hold her.”

Abigail’s nice aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali and cousin Noa Naftali thanked Biden and the Qatari authorities for serving to safe the woman’s freedom.

“We hoped and prayed today would come. There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail is safe and coming home,” they mentioned in a press release.

In two earlier exchanges, Hamas launched 26 Israelis and 14 Thai laborers in addition to one Filipino. In return, Israel has freed 78 Palestinian prisoners, all girls and minors.

Tens of hundreds of Thai and Filipino laborers work in Israel. Dozens had been among the many 1,200 folks that Israel says had been killed within the Oct. 7 assault and others had been swept up as Hamas took some 240 hostages. The Gaza Health Ministry says 13,300 Palestinians have died in seven weeks of Israeli bombardment of the territory.

With the discharge of Abigail, two girls with U.S.-Israeli citizenship are nonetheless being held. Biden on Sunday mentioned he stays hopeful concerning the Americans who’re nonetheless unaccounted for, however didn’t have a concrete replace on their launch.

He mentioned the administration is working with Qatar and the opposite negotiators to increase this pause to facilitate the liberty of further hostages.

The newest change of captives comes on the identical day that Netanyahu visited Israeli troopers in Gaza, his first recognized journey to the Palestinian enclave in additional than a decade.

Relatives of distinguished Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis, heart, welcome her at her dwelling in East Jerusalem early Sunday after detainees had been launched from Israeli jails in change for hostages launched by Hamas.

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Relatives of distinguished Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis, heart, welcome her at her dwelling in East Jerusalem early Sunday after detainees had been launched from Israeli jails in change for hostages launched by Hamas.

Oren Ziv/AFP by way of Getty Images

Netanyahu’s workplace launched a video of his go to displaying the prime minister carrying a helmet and physique armor and showing to face amongst empty Palestinian properties, the place troops had been stationed. His workplace mentioned he visited one of many underground Hamas tunnels revealed throughout Israeli navy operations. In a video, Netanyahu mentioned “we are going all the way” on Israel’s aim of eradicating Hamas.

Meanwhile, there are indicators of rising violence within the West Bank, the place Israeli forces killed 5 folks in an operation in a single day at a refugee camp there. Three others had been killed elsewhere within the territory, in accordance with the Palestinian well being ministry.

On Saturday, the second change of captives got here near unraveling over what Hamas mentioned had been Israeli violations of phrases of the truce that has briefly halted the preventing in Gaza. Israel denied such violations.

Among the captives freed on Saturday was 9-year-old Emily Hand. Her father, Thomas Hand, had been knowledgeable she was killed within the assault only to be told later that her physique was not discovered among the many victims.

“We can’t find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days,” Thomas Hand mentioned in a press release to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

In Gaza, which has been pounded for almost seven weeks by a relentless Israeli bombardment earlier than the short-term truce went into impact, humanitarian teams had been speeding help to civilians whereas the scenario on the bottom was nonetheless comparatively quiet.

Israeli navy officers issued a warning on Sunday to civilian Palestinians inside Gaza, ordering them to stay within the south and to not journey inside a half-mile of the border with Israel.

English trainer Tariq Al-Annabi holds a category in a United Nations-run college in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday — the third day of a brief cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

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English trainer Tariq Al-Annabi holds a category in a United Nations-run college in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday — the third day of a brief cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

Hatem Ali/AP

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a minimum of eight Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli troopers over the past 24 hours within the West Bank, in accordance with The Associated Press.

“It’s good that we have a truce in Gaza, but there is no truce in the West Bank,” mentioned Basil Abu Nasr, a shopkeeper within the Qalandiya refugee camp close to Ramallah. “They still raid our villages, they still raid our refugee camps … make arrests and attack people.”

Aman Naf’a, whose husband has been jailed by the Israelis, instructed NPR that violence by the Israeli navy and settlers angers a lot of her Palestinian neighbors.

“We want the whole world to see what they are doing to us,” Naf’a instructed NPR.

The Israeli navy mentioned its troopers killed 5 Palestinians in a gun battle within the Jenin refugee camp and arrested a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son earlier this 12 months.

In an look on the social media web site X on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces Maj. Doron Spielman mentioned the IDF was attempting to restrict threats to Israeli civilians after Hamas’ lethal assault.

“We are focused on Gaza but this has been a multi-front war over the last five weeks,” Spielman mentioned. He additionally pointed to threats from Hezbollah, an anti-Israel militia backed by Iran working in southern Lebanon.

Israeli officers have mentioned they plan to renew their full-scale offensive towards Hamas in Gaza as soon as the short-term truce ends.

In a press release early Sunday, United Nations officers mentioned they hoped the cease-fire can be prolonged. “The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send in and across Gaza,” the U.N. statement mentioned.

Basil Abu Nasr, a service provider within the Qalandiya refugee camp within the Israeli occupied West Bank, mentioned violence was rising. “There is no truce in the West Bank,” he mentioned.

Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR Images for NPR

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Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR Images for NPR

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned 200 vans loaded with help had been dispatched on Saturday and that 187 had entered Gaza by 7 p.m. native time (midday EDT). The bulk of the help went to areas within the south, it mentioned.

OCHA says that 1.7 million folks in Gaza, or almost 80% of its 2.2 million folks, are internally displaced and that almost 900,000 of them had been sheltering in some 100 amenities within the south.

NPR’s Brian Mann reported from Ramallah within the West Bank. NPR’s Scott Neuman and Daniel Estrin reported from Tel Aviv. NPR’s Dana Farrington contributed from Washington, D.C.