A two-day truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza has been extended, according to mediator Qatar on Monday. The ceasefire follows seven weeks of fighting that has claimed hundreds of lives and completely destroyed the Palestinian territory.

“A humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip has been extended for a further two days, as per an agreement,” a representative for the Qatari foreign ministry stated on social networking platform X.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, but a White House official confirmed agreement had been reached.

Hamas also said it had agreed a two-day extension to the truce with Qatar and Egypt, who have been facilitating indirect negotiations between the two sides.

“An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce,” a Hamas official said in a phone call with Reuters.