BARCELONA: Qatar, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and Spain are working to extend the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister said on Monday.

After calling for a lasting ceasefire to avoid an increase in civilian deaths, Riyad Al-Maliki said the current truce could be extended for “one, two, three days” but added that no one knew for how long.

Al-Maliki was addressing a news conference alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares during the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona.

Monday marked the final day of an agreed four-day pause in the fighting.