The EU's top foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, urges to "extend the truce which will avoid more civilian deaths" during the Union for the Mediterranean Forum which was held in Barcelona without Israeli representatives, who declined the invitation. An agreement to extend a truce between Israel and Hamas by two days has been reached, with the White House welcoming the agreement and saying it was hopeful the humanitarian pause would continue for longer still. The pause in fighting is the first since the October 7 attack in which Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 240 hostages. Israel's response, a sustained air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, has killed nearly 15,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES