There will be no ceasefire before Friday, an Israeli official told news agency AFP on Thursday, November 23.

A day prior, Israel's cabinet approved a deal with Hamas to free 50 hostages in return for a four-day pause in fighting.

The Israel government in a statement said that the release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.

However, Israel is firm that the war will still continue. The country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the beginning of the cabinet meeting had said, "We will eliminate Hamas, return all the hostages and guarantee that there will be no element in Gaza that threatens Israel.”

On another note, US President Joe Biden called Netanyahu and other leaders of West Asia, including Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hammad al-Thani of Qatar and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, after the agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages. The US thanked the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for their efforts to broker the deal and also discussed coordination to further surge humanitarian assistanceto Palestinians in Gaza.

With inputs from agencies

First Published:Nov 23, 2023 7:50 AM IST