JERUSALEM, Nov 30, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend by one more day a truce under which hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and aid flows into the war-devastated Gaza Strip.

Militants took about 240 captives from southern Israel during an unprecedented October 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

In response, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas, an Islamist movement with an armed wing. A relentless Israeli campaign of air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive has killed nearly 15,000 people, according to Gaza's Hamas rulers.

On day 55 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

- Hamas says to free more hostages -

A Hamas source told AFP that 10 Israeli hostages would be released from the Gaza Strip on Thursday as part of a one-day truce extension.

"All of them are alive," said the source, who was not authorised to speak to the media and asked to remain anonymous.

Minutes before the halt in fighting was to expire at 0500 GMT on Thursday, Israel's military said it would be prolonged.

The prime minister's office subsequently said it had received a new list of women and children hostages to be released by Hamas, "and therefore the truce will continue".

The pause began on Friday for an initial four days and was then prolonged by two days before the latest one-day extension.

- Blinken pushes for truce extension -

Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli leaders on Thursday that the truce in war with Hamas was "producing results" and should continue.

Blinken, on his third trip to the region since the conflict erupted, also stressed it was "imperative" to protect civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip should fighting resume.

"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families," Blinken said in his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

"It's also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately."

Blinken later arrived in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, where he was due to meet with president Mahmud Abbas.

- Hamas claims Jerusalem shooting -

Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed three people on Thursday, shortly after the truce extension.

Police said the two gunmen from Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem opened fire on people near a bus stop on the western side of Jerusalem.

"Two terrorists arrived in a car, one of them armed with an M-16 and the other with a pistol," and began shooting, Jerusalem police chief Doron Turgeman told reporters.

The attackers were shot dead by two off-duty soldiers and a civilian, police said.

In a statement later, Hamas called the attack "a natural response to the unprecedented crimes of the occupier (Israel) in the Gaza Strip and against children in Jenin", in the West Bank, where an Israeli army raid this week killed an eight-year-old boy and a teenager.

- Thais return home -

Seventeen Thai hostages kidnapped and held for weeks by Hamas in Gaza landed Thursday in Bangkok, where overjoyed relatives waited to welcome them home.

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, who flew to Israel earlier this week, accompanied the group, who wore T-shirts bearing the Thai and Israeli flags.

- Israel recalls Spain envoy -

Israel's top diplomat said Thursday he was recalling the country's envoy to Madrid over "outrageous remarks" by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez questioning the legality of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

"I have decided to summon the Israeli ambassador in Spain for consultations in Jerusalem," Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Sanchez earlier said during an interview with Spanish public television TVE that the European Union should recognise a Palestinian state, which he argued would "stabilise the region".

"It is in Europe's interest to address this issue out of moral conviction because what we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable", the Socialist premier said.