Qatar says Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the current pause in fighting between the two sides for two more days until Wednesday. Attention is now focused on whether the move will lead to more hostages being released and improvements in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Qatar has been mediating negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic group, which controls Gaza. A spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry announced the extension of the deal on social media on Monday.

Under the original deal, it was agreed that Hamas would release in stages the hostages it took when it attacked Israel early last month in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Hamas released another 11 Israelis on Monday, while Israel released 33 Palestinian prisoners on the same day.

This resulted in the release of 69 hostages, including foreign nationals, by Hamas and 150 jailed Palestinians by Israel in the four days of the truce.

US President Joe Biden has issued a statement saying, "the US will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released." He said that his country will take full advantage of the pause in fighting and provide more humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

A senior US State Department official said on Monday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank later this week for talks aimed at allowing further hostage releases and delivering more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

A senior Hamas official told local media that the group is ready to negotiate for the release of Israeli soldiers, but negotiations have yet to begin.