Egypt’s Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper is reporting that a preliminary understanding has been reached to extend the truce for two more days, under the same conditions that are currently being observed. The paper has quoted Egyptian officials as its source.
Israeli officials confirmed to the Haaretz newspaper that the proposal was being examined, but has not yet been confirmed. Haaretz reports an Israeli source as saying the agreement on an extension depended on whether Hamas is able to release 10 additional Israeli hostages a day.
As we reported earlier, with fewer women and children remaining in captivity extending the truce may require Hamas to free at least some Israeli men for the first time.
Attention now turns to Qatar which mediated indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that resulted in the ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Qatar hosted spy chiefs from Israel’s the Mossad and the United States’ CIA. The meeting sought to “build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal”, a source briefed on the visits told Reuters.
Ihab Abu Auf, a father of three staying with another family in southern Gaza, has told the media he tried twice to return to his home in the north but was turned back by Israeli troops.
He spoke to Associated Press. “Where will we go then with our women and children?” Abu Auf said. “They want another Nakba.”
“We are fed up,” said Omar al-Darawi, who works at the overwhelmed Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. “We want this war to stop.”
The two men spoke to AP on Wednesday.
Hamas has informed mediators that it is willing to extend the truce for four days, a source close to the militant group has told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Under that arrangement, “the movement would be able to release Israeli prisoners that it, other resistance movements and other parties hold during this period, according to the terms of the existing truce,” the source added.
Al Jazeera reports that at least 242 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since 7 October in the occupied West Bank.
It says those killed include 57 children, one woman and six prisoners who died in Israeli custody.
Pope Francis has again called for the continuation of the truce in the Gaza Strip, for the release of all hostages and for humanitarian aid access into the territory.
The 87-year-old pope, who has been unwell, asked an aide to read his remarks for him at his weekly audience with the public at the Vatican.
Hind Khoudary is in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and she has reported for Al Jazeera, saying: “We’ve just learned of a shooting in the northern Gaza Strip by Israeli forces in which two Palestinians have been injured, one of whom is in serious condition.”
She added: “People are using the last hours of this extended truce to buy as many necessities as they can. People say this truce is meaningless because they are not able to go back to their homes and make sure their families that are stuck in the north are safe.”
Sixty Israelis have been freed as part of the truce so far. Another 21 hostages – 19 Thais, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli – have also been released in separate negotiations since the ceasefire began, Associated Press reports.
Prior to the truce, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Two other hostages were found dead in Gaza. It remains unclear how many people are still being held and their condition. Mediators in Qatar say they have been unable to verify the numbers beyond the list of hostages expected to be released today, which marks the final day under the current agreement.
The latest swap brought to 180 the number of Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons as part of the deal. Most have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. Several were women convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting deadly attacks.
Prisoner advocate groups said that over the four days of the initial truce, Israeli forces arrested at least 133 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, meaning the total number of Palestinian detainees held by Israel has reduced by less than 50.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Gaza over the news wires.
The Times of Israel is reporting that medics have assessed some of the hostages returned overnight from Gaza and found them in generally good medical condition.
It quotes Prof David Zeltser, deputy director of emergency medicine at Ichilov hospital, saying two women taken there were well, and Prof Itai Pessach, from the facility in Sheba that took in eight returnees, saying the freed captives were “a group of extraordinary women who endured the hardships of their captivity in a remarkable fashion”.
He added: “Their medical situation is complex and they will need ongoing medical treatment and attention, but there is no immediate danger to any of them.”
Haaretz reports that “according to an official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations”, Israel has indicated that it is unwilling to extend the truce beyond Sunday. Israel previously said it would extend the truce for a day for every occasion on which 10 hostages were released by Hamas from captivity in Gaza.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries have said in a joint statement that they support the further extension of the truce and future pauses in order to increase assistance and facilitate the release of all hostages.
The group urged Hamas to release all the hostages “immediately and unconditionally”.
It emphasised “Israel’s right to defend itself and its people” but underscored the importance of “protecting civilians and compliance with international law”. It also said the G7 was committed to a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution.
The G7 foreign ministers cautioned against further escalation of the conflict. They urged Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis to cease threats to international shipping lanes and commercial vessels and release the Galaxy Leader commercial ship and its crew seized on 19 November.
The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper reports that the Israeli raid in Jenin is ongoing.
In several posts on X, the media outlet says that more Israeli troops have entered the city with further clashes reported.
An Al Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem has said that fighting has been continuing sporadically since 9pm local time on Tuesday. The correspondent says that witnesses in Jenin have reported hearing loud explosions and that there are drones in the air above the city.
Al Jazeera has also reported that Israeli forces have raided the al-Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah – as well as the al-Askar refugee camp in the city of Nablus, which are both also in the West Bank.
Palestinian media have reported two people, including a child, were injured by Israeli bullets during a large-scale military incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp
The Wafa news agency claims Israeli troops fired stun grenades and teargas canisters toward residents and their homes.
The media group quotes the director of the Jenin Governmental hospital, Wisam Baker, who said Israeli troops searched medical personnel and staff and deployed their soldiers around the hospital.
They also quote the chief Executive Officer at Ibn Sina Specialized hospital, Samer Atiyeh, who said Israeli forces cordoned off the hospital from all directions.
The Guardian has been unable to verify these reports.
The AFP news agency has reported that the final 24 hours of the extended truce agreement begins later Wednesday, with one more exchange of hostages for prisoners expected, but mediator Qatar is hoping for a more durable arrangement.
“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,” Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference.
“However, we are working with what we have. And what we have right now is the provision to the agreement that allows us to extend days as long as Hamas is able to guarantee the release of at least 10 hostages.”
Philippine president Ferdinand Marocs has said he is “very happy” to announce that Noralyn Babadilla is now safely back in Israel, adding that “all Filipinos affected by the war have been accounted for”.
Noralyn, who was released on Tuesday, was the second Filipino to be released by Hamas. Filipino caregiver Gelienor “Jimmy” Pacheco was among the group of hostages released on the first day of the temporary truce.
Marcos said in a statement: “We extend our sincerest gratitude to Israeli authorities for facilitating Noralyn’s release, and for all ongoing assistance to Filipinos in Israel. Our gratitude also goes to Egypt and the State of Qatar for their crucial role in this process over the past several weeks.”
About 30,000 Filipinos work in Israel, mainly in the care sector. Most live away from the conflict areas.
Thai foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara has said he welcomes the release of two more Thai hostages that had been held by Hamas in Gaza.
“Happy to personally welcome 2 additional Thai hostages just released and arrived at the hospital in Tel Aviv,” he posted on the social media platform X.
Nineteen Thai hostages have so far been released, while the foreign ministry says 13 more remain in captivity. There were 39 Thai nationals killed in the 7 October attack by Hamas.
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 after the current pause in fighting, the AP news agency reported senior US officials as saying on Tuesday.
Separately, White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said the Israelis had been receptive when US officials have raised the issue.
The White House, 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, said officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, according to AP.
The White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be “carefully thought through,” AP reports.
Kirby, told reporters separately, “Now you have an added population of hundreds of thousands more in the south that you didn’t have before [the Israelis] moved into Gaza City.”
“And so it’s even all that more of an added burden on Israel to make sure … that they have properly accounted for … the extra innocent life that is now in south Gaza.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that Israeli Defense Forces will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current, temporary ceasefire.
President Joe Biden has said he would like to see the pause – which has also allowed a surge of much-needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza – continue as long as feasible.
There are reports that parts of the city of Jenin, in the West Bank, have been closed off with checkpoints set up at routes into the city.
Al Jazeera says that armed clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters have taken place, with at least eight people injured. They report that hundreds of Israeli troops have taken part in the raid, supported by more than 50 armoured vehicles.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has said that one of its medical teams was detained by Israeli troops outside a Jenin hospital, preventing them from transferring a patient with a gunshot wound in the leg to the hospital. They later said that the patient was arrested.
Christos Christou, the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, is in Jenin and says that the Israeli army “conducted an incursion on Jenin refugee camp.”
In a video posted to X, he says that he has been trapped in the Khalil Suleiman hospital for more than two hours, while Israeli forces “operated in Jenin camp”.
Egypt’s Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper is reporting that a preliminary understanding has been reached to extend the truce for two more days, under the same conditions that are currently being observed. The paper has quoted Egyptian officials as its source.
Israeli officials confirmed to the Haaretz newspaper that the proposal was being examined, but has not yet been confirmed. Haaretz reports an Israeli source as saying the agreement on an extension depended on whether Hamas is able to release 10 additional Israeli hostages a day.
As we reported earlier, with fewer women and children remaining in captivity extending the truce may require Hamas to free at least some Israeli men for the first time.
Attention now turns to Qatar which mediated indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that resulted in the ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Qatar hosted spy chiefs from Israel’s the Mossad and the United States’ CIA. The meeting sought to “build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal”, a source briefed on the visits told Reuters.
Welcome to our continuing coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas.
There’s just over 24 hours before a prolonged six-day truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire. On Tuesday, Hamas released 12 hostages who had been held in Gaza since 7 October in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails.
It’s thought that another exchange will take place on Wednesday, with Israeli media reporting that Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has received a list with the names of the Israeli hostages that Hamas intends to release.
It’s hoped that the truce could be extended further, after spy chiefs from Israel’s Mossad and the United States’ CIA travelled to Qatar for discussions about “the next phase of a potential deal”.
Israel has said the truce could be extended further, provided Hamas continues to free at least 10 Israeli hostages a day and Egyptial media are reporting that a deal has been agreed in principle.
We’ll have more on all of this shortly, first, here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
The latest exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails took place on Tuesday night. 12 hostages, including 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals, are now in Israel. The 30 Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons on Tuesday include 15 children and 15 women. In a statement, the Israel Prison Service said the 30 Palestinians were released from Ofer prison, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and from a detention centre in Jerusalem.
There were reports that the West Bank city of Jenin had been raided by Israeli troops. Al Jazeera says that armed clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters have taken place, with at least eight people injured. Christos Christou, the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, said that the Israeli army “conducted an incursion on Jenin refugee camp.”
There were reports of some fighting in Gaza, depite the extension of the truce. Israel said a number of soldiers were lightly injured in Gaza after “three explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in two different locations”. In a Telegram message on Tuesday, the IDF said: “In one of the locations, terrorists also opened fire at the troops, who responded with fire.” Hamas accused Israel of a “blatant breach of the ceasefire” in the northern Gaza Strip but said it was “still committed to the ceasefire so long as the enemy is committed to it”.
The UN’s aid chief, Martin Griffiths, will travel to Jordan on Wednesday for talks on the possibility of opening a second crossing, the Kerem Shalom crossing, to allow for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Israel. Since the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel came into force last week, about 200 trucks carrying aid have entered Gaza on a daily basis, but the amount is nowhere enough to need the needs of its population.
The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) has said Israeli forces are preventing a fuel truck from entering the north of Gaza. The truck, which was passing through a checkpoint which separates the north of the strip from the south, was carrying fuel to support the work of seven PRCS ambulances operational in northern Gaza, it said on Tuesday. In a later post, it said Israeli forces prevented its emergency medical team from transferring a wounded patient to the hospital in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
The population of Gaza, especially women and children, are at “high risk of famine” if humanitarian food supplies do not continue past the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. In an update on Tuesday, the WFP said it had delivered food to 121,161 people in Gaza since the truce began on Friday. “Six days is simply not enough to provide all the assistance needed,” it said.
There is a risk that more people could die from diseases than from bombings in Gaza if the territory’s health system is not put back on its feet quickly, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson said on Tuesday. “Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system,” the WHO’s Margaret Harris said.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vd29ybGQvbGl2ZS8yMDIzL25vdi8yOS9pc3JhZWwtaGFtYXMtd2FyLWxpdmUtdXBkYXRlcy1uZXdzLWNlYXNlZmlyZS1leHRlbnNpb24tcmVwb3J0cy1pc3JhZWwtcmFpZC1nYXphLXdlc3QtYmFuay1wYWxlc3RpbmUtamVuaW7SAQA?oc=5
2023-11-29 09:45:00Z
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