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Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Janine Hurst.

Hamas today released 17 more hostages including a four-year-old Israeli-American

girl.

And Hamas says it wants to extend the temporary ceasefire to get more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages it seized in its

October 7th attack on Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

who says he's open to extending it and as then peers Gregri reports, President Biden is also on board.

He said, quote, I'd like to see the pause go on for as long as the hostages keep coming

out. So this today was day three of a planned four day pause and if it

goes as planned tomorrow we would have about 50 Israeli hostages who have been

freed and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

And if the ceasefire holds through Monday, there is a sort of clause in this agreement that

says it can be extended a day at a time for six more days and both

sides would have to keep freeing additional people that they're holding.

And Piers Greg Myri reporting.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip today.

And Pierce Daniel Estrin reports, it was his first known visit inside Gaza in more than a decade as Prime Minister.

Netanyahu's office released footage of his visit to the troops inside Gaza.

He wore a helmet and body armor and appeared to stand among empty Palestinian homes in

Gaza where troops were stationed.

His office said he visited one of the underground Hamas tunnels troops had exposed.

In a video he said, quote, we are going all the way on Israel's goal to eradicate Hamas. His visit came on the third day of the

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