It's the Brian Laird show on WNYc, good morning everyone.

It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again everyone. Now Robin Wright, columnists for the New Yorker,

where she writes mostly about global affairs. Her books relevant to the current Middle East crisis, include the last great

revolution, turmoil and transformation in Iran. Sacred Rage, the Wrath of Militant Islam and

others. She is also with the Woodrow Wilson Center and the United

States Institute of Peace. She's a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center.

Chartered by Congress, the Wilson Center provides

nonpartisan counsel and insights on global affairs

to policy makers through deep research, impartial analysis,

and independent scholarship, they say.

And Robin has a new article on the Woodrow Wilson Center website called why taking hostages is such a

potent tool in warfare. Robin thanks for coming back on WNYC. Hi there.

Great to be with you as always Brian. First I'm seeing some

breaking news and I don't expect you necessarily to be able to confirm this but

I'm seeing NBC news quoting a senior Arab official as they call the person saying

the four day truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended.

Anything you're seeing that can confirm that?

The intention always was to see if the four days would hold and then to try to extend it by one day, two days, or potentially longer.

So I think that's the hope of all sides in order to get more

hostages out for the Israeli side and more humanitarian aid in for the

Palestinians. And here's a little more just coming in from the AP it says the spokesman for

Qatar's foreign ministry says that an agreement has been reached to extend the

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