More hostages were freed from Gaza on Wednesday, November 29, as mediators raced to broker another extension to the truce between Israel and Hamas hours before it was due to expire. Underscoring the urgency, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for talks on aid for Gaza and the truce, which is scheduled to end early Thursday after a six-day halt in fighting.

However, in a sign of the challenges facing negotiators, a Hamas source said the Palestinian militant group was not satisfied with Israel's proposals for another extension. "What is being proposed in the discussions to extend the truce is not the best," the source told AFP, adding that the talks were focused on extending the pause by "two days or more". Israel's war cabinet was meeting late Wednesday over proposals to extend the truce, media reports said.

As the discussions continued, 10 Israeli hostages arrived back in Israel, among them five women, three children and two 18-year-old men, the prime minister's office said. In return, according to the Qatari foreign ministry, Israel released 30 Palestinians, 14 women and 16 minors. It was the sixth group of Israelis, and other foreign nationalities, to be released under the truce agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Another four Thai hostages were also released along with two women, holding dual Russian and Israeli citizenship, outside the terms of the deal. The release of the two women was described by Hamas as in recognition of the "efforts" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'Epic humanitarian catastrophe'

As efforts intensified to extend the pause in fighting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded a "true humanitarian ceasefire". Gazans are "in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe," Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting, after seven weeks of bombing that have left buildings levelled and inhabitants short of food and water.

Since it began on November 24, the truce had seen 70 Israeli hostages freed in return for 210 Palestinian prisoners, before Wednesday's releases. Around 30 foreigners, most of them Thais living in Israel, have been freed outside the terms of the deal.

Complicating matters, some of the remaining hostages in Gaza are in the hands of another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad. Its spokesman Musab al-Breim told AFP on Tuesday that "the war is now continuing in indirect negotiations with the Israeli occupier". He said his group and Hamas were "committed" to respecting the truce agreement "as long as the occupier does so, and we are ready to pursue a political route to make the occupier pay".