People hold an Israeli flag as a helicopter carrying hostages released amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv district, Israel, Nov. 28, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Israel and the Hamas terror group were negotiating through mediators on Wednesday over another potential extension of the Gaza truce, with hours left to reach a deal before fighting was due to restart after a six-day pause.

Families of Israeli hostages were informed on Wednesday of the names of those due to be released later in the day, Israel‘s public broadcaster Kan reported, the final group to be freed under the truce unless negotiators succeed in extending it.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers published a list of 15 women and 15 teenagers to be released from Israeli jails in return. For the first time since the truce began it included Arab citizens of Israel.

A Palestinian official told Reuters that despite a willingness on both sides to prolong the truce, no agreement had yet been reached. Discussions were still under way with mediators Egypt and Qatar, the official said.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Israel would consider any serious proposal, though he declined to provide further details.

“We are doing everything we can in order to get those hostages out. Nothing is confirmed until it is confirmed,” Levy told reporters in Tel Aviv. “We’re talking about very sensitive negotiations in which human lives hang in the balance.”

Once the release of hostages ends, the fighting will resume, he said: “This war will end with the end of Hamas.”

So far Gaza terrorists have freed 60 Israeli women and children from among the 240 hostages they seized in a deadly rampage on Oct. 7 under the deal that secured the war’s first truce. Twenty-one foreigners, mainly Thai farmworkers, were also freed under separate parallel deals. In return, Israel has released 180 Palestinian security detainees, all women and teenagers.

The initial four-day truce was extended by 48 hours from Tuesday, and Israel says it would be willing to prolong it further for as long as Hamas frees 10 hostages a day. But with fewer women and children still in captivity, that could mean agreeing to terms governing the release of at least some Israeli men for the first time.

Tuesday’s release also included for the first time hostages held by Islamic Jihad, a separate Palestinian terrorist group, as well as by Hamas itself. The ability of Hamas to secure the release of hostages held by other factions had been an issue in earlier talks.

The truce has brought the first respite to a war launched by Hamas-led terrorists with their “Black Shabbat” raid in which they killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on the Jewish day of rest, according to Israel‘s tally.

Israel responded with a military campaign of air strikes and ground operations against Hamas targets in Gaza, with the stated goal of destroying the terror group. According to Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza, thousands of people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave during the campaign, although experts have cast doubt on the reliability of casualty numbers coming out of Gaza.

On Tuesday, mediator Qatar hosted the spy chiefs from Israel‘s Mossad and the US CIA.

The officials discussed possible parameters of a new phase of the truce deal including Hamas releasing hostages who are Israeli men or soldiers, a source briefed on the matter said. They also considered what might be needed to reach a ceasefire lasting more than a handful of days.

Qatar spoke to Hamas before the meeting to get a sense of what the group might agree to, and the opposing sides are now internally discussing the ideas explored at the meeting, the source said.

There was no immediate word on whether the final group to be freed on Wednesday would include the youngest hostage, 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas, held along with his four-year-old brother and their parents. Relatives had come forward with a special plea after they were omitted from the penultimate group freed on Tuesday.

The truce has held throughout the six days despite reports from both sides of comparatively small-scale violations, though both say they are prepared for war to resume with full intensity the moment it lapses.

A spokesperson for Israel‘s military said the truce was still holding on Wednesday. Palestinians accused Israeli forces of firing at homes near the beach in Khan Younis from the sea, and of shooting in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.