Qatar's government has announced that an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip by two days.

A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson revealed this in a social media post on Monday.

Israel and Hamas had initially agreed on a four-day pause that started Friday, during which Hamas promised to release hostages in exchange for the release by Israel of Palestinian prisoners.

During the first three days of the truce, Hamas released 40 Israeli nationals and 18 foreigners, while Israel set 117 Palestinians free.

Hamas on Monday night released a statement confirming that it has agreed with Qatar and Egypt to a two-day extension, with Israel subjected to the same conditions as the previous four days.

Hamas has demanded that three Palestinian prisoners be released for each one of the Israeli hostages freed during the window. The Palestinian Islamic group also called for 200 trucks with humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave each day.

The agreement on a two-day extension came as the initial deal was set to expire on Monday.