Hamas is willing to extend a truce for four days and release more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source close to the militant group said Wednesday, as mediators sought a lasting halt to the conflict.

A current truce is scheduled to expire early Thursday after a six-day pause in the conflict, sparked by deadly Hamas attacks that prompted a devastating Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

A truce between Israel and Hamas enters its sixth day Wednesday after additional hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, with mediators pushing for a "sustainable" ceasefire.

- Hostages, prisoners released -

Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh was chosen Tuesday to host the 2030 World Expo following its bid that focused on shaping a prosperous and sustainable future, beating out Rome and the South Korean port city of Busan for an event expected to draw millions of visitors.

Members of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions chose Riyadh with a majority of 119 out of 165 votes during a closed-door meeting in the suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Busan got 29 votes and Rome 17. The result was greeted with cheers by the Saudi delegation.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas will both address the COP28 U.N. climate talks in Dubai this week, seven weeks into the Israel-Hamas war, officials said on Tuesday.

Herzog and Abbas are both scheduled to make speeches lasting three minutes maximum on Friday. Abbas is expected to be in the room when Herzog is speaking, as he is scheduled to address the room only three speakers later.

Hamas said Tuesday that it clashed with Israeli forces after they violated the truce in northern Gaza, while noting that it is still committed to the temporary ceasefire.

CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for secret meetings with Israel’s spy chief and Qatar’s prime minister aimed at brokering an expansive deal between Israel and Hamas, three people familiar with the visit told the Washington Post.

The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid "significant further displacement" of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group, senior U.S. officials said.

The administration, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or mass displacement like that seen before the current temporary pause in the fighting, underscored to the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, the officials said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

Mediator Qatar said Tuesday it would use a two-day extension to a humanitarian pause in Gaza to work towards a "sustainable truce" between Israel and Hamas.

"Our main focus right now, and our hope, is to reach a sustainable truce that will lead to further negotiations and eventually to an end... to this war," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference.

From Lebanon, Palestinian Fatima al-Ashwah has been praying for relatives in Gaza, but received grim news that Israeli bombing killed around 12 of them days before a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

"They bombed their house," leaving some of them "in pieces," said Ashwah, drained by weeks of anguish and days of grief.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the U.S. hopes to find a way to extend a cease-fire in Gaza and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel's war with Hamas began last month.

Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, North Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering.