An extension to the ongoing four-day truce is unlikely to happen despite growing calls for Israel to extend it past Monday, Professor Ibrahim Abusharif of Northwestern University in Qatar told Al Jazeera.

“The rhetoric coming out of the Israeli leadership suggests they’re going to continue with their bombing and carnage. I don’t have a lot of hope,” he said.

“I also think a ceasefire is not the same as putting out the fire to the original spark — the original point of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. If they are just extending the truce for a few days, and resuming the carnage, it doesn’t seem like an effective way to move forward. It’s not moving forward at all.”

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