Israel-Hamas war live: Israel frees 30 Palestinians from jails as Hamas releases eight hostages - The Guardian

The Israel Prison Service said early on Friday it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails as part of the latest exchange for hostages under the truce deal with Hamas.

The prison service said the Palestinians were released from prisons in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem under the seventh swap, Reuters reported.

Israel knew of Hamas’s attack plan more than a year ago, according to a report in the New York Times.

The report says a blueprint reviewed by the Times laid out the attack in detail, but that Israeli officials dismissed it as aspirational and ignoring specific warnings.

The NYT report says:

Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out.

The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.

The translated document, which was reviewed by The New York Times, did not set a date for the attack, but described a methodical assault designed to overwhelm the fortifications around the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli cities and storm key military bases, including a division headquarters.

Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision.

… Officials privately concede that, had the military taken these warnings seriously and redirected significant reinforcements to the south, where Hamas attacked, Israel could have blunted the attacks or possibly even prevented them.

… The Israeli military and the Israeli Security Agency, which is in charge of counterterrorism in Gaza, declined to comment.

These images are coming in over the news wires of Palestinian prisoners being welcomed in the occupied West Bank early on Friday after their release by Israel in the latest exchange.

On the number of hostages released by Hamas in the latest exchange, Agence France-Presse is reporting how the truce deal stipulates that a minimum of 10 Israeli captives should be released alive each day.

The militant group released just eight Israelis on Thursday.

But a source close to Hamas told AFP that two Russian-Israeli women freed on Wednesday in addition to 10 others made up for only eight being released on Thursday.

Mediator Qatar appeared to back the calculation.

In exchange under the extended truce deal – due to expire within hours – Israeli prison authorities said 30 Palestinians prisoners were freed overnight on Thursday.

Since the agreement came into force on 24 November, 110 hostages have been released, including 80 Israelis.

The majority of the 30 non-Israeli hostages freed were from Thailand, released under a separate agreement.

Israel has freed 240 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

Al Jazeera is reporting that a bus carrying newly released Palestinian detainees has been hit with tear gas fired by Israeli forces, according to a witness.

The network’s report says Issam Rimawi, a Palestinian photojournalist, witnessed and recorded the incident and said Israeli forces were deployed outside Ofer prison in the West Bank before the release of the Palestinian prisoners.

The report quotes Rimawi as telling Al Jazeera in Ramallah:

They were firing tear gas just as the bus carrying the prisoners was leaving

The prisoners were suffocating, and the driver had to stop the bus until the Red Cross crew came to help them.

The medical team had to go into the bus, and we have documented this with our own camera.

The Israeli authorities are doing this because they don’t want people to celebrate the release of the prisoners.

The Al Jazeera Media Network is funded by the Qatari royal family and says it has editorial independence.

The Israel Prison Service said early on Friday it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails as part of the latest exchange for hostages under Israel’s truce agreement with Hamas.

Here are some of the images coming in of the latest release of six hostages by Hamas – in addition to two freed earlier on Thursday – under the exchange agreement with Israel.

Here’s more around the Agence France-Presse report that Hamas has said it is willing to further extend the truce pausing fighting with Israel.

Israel had yet to respond, the news agency reports.

The current truce is due to expire early on Friday after a seven-day pause. US secretary of state Antony Blinken urged an extension after meeting with leaders in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

“Clearly, we want to see this process continue to move forward,” he told reporters in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

We want an eighth day and beyond.

Blinken also said Israel “must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that minimise further casualties of innocent Palestinians, including by clearly and precisely designating areas and places in southern and central Gaza, where they can be safe and out of the line of fire”.

International pressure has risen for a lasting halt to the war. The White House said it was “working on it literally by the hour” to try to extend the temporary ceasefire.

Amid the latest release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source close to Hamas, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, told AFP it was “willing to extend the truce”.

The source added:

The mediators are currently making strong, intense and continuous efforts for an additional day in the truce and then working to extend it again for other days.

The Israel Prison Service said early on Friday it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails as part of the latest exchange for hostages under the truce deal with Hamas.

The prison service said the Palestinians were released from prisons in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem under the seventh swap, Reuters reported.

It’s 1am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Israel’s military confirmed on Thursday that a truce with Hamas would continue, allowing further hostage and prisoner releases and the possibility of more a durable pause in hostilities. There were frantic diplomatic efforts through the night to prolong the six-day halt to fighting in Gaza, which had been due to end at 7am local time (5am GMT) on Thursday. Both sides have stressed they have the will and capabilities to continue the conflict.

• Talks are continuing about extending the pause, which is due to end early Friday. Hamas is willing to further extend the truce, a source close to Hamas has said. The White House has said it is “working on it literally by the hour” to try to extend the temporary ceasefire.

• Eight Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released on Thursday. Hamas freed six of the hostages hours after releasing two Israeli women. All were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and were being brought to Israel to be taken to hospitals and be reunited with their families, the Israeli military said. Among them is Mia Schem,a French-Israeli woman who was abducted from the Supernova music festival in Israel and shown in the first Hamas video of a hostage speaking from captivity.

• Under the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas – which was extended on Thursday for another day – Hamas must release 10 Israeli hostages each day in exchange for the release of 30 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The Qatari foreign ministry saidtoday’s overall tally has been reached, because two Russian-Israeli dual-nationals released on Wednesday have been included in Thursday’s count. The prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was among 30 prisoners freed by Israel early on Thursday. Eight Palestinian women and 22 children are slated for release later today.

• The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has stepped up calls for Israel to comply with international law and spare civilians as it wages its war against Hamas in Gaza. On his third trip to the Middle East since 7 October, Blinken said the US remains committed to supporting Israel’s right to self defence, but that Israel must protect civilians if it starts major military operations in southern Gaza.

• Three people were killed and 13 injured after two brothers from East Jerusalem shot at people waiting at a bus stop on a main road towards the western edge of the city in the rush hour, local police and medics reported. Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack.

• An Israeli military assault into the south of Gaza may lead to 1 million refugees, the head of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA has warned. After a second overnight visit to Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini urged Israel to think through the consequences of an offensive in the south if the temporary truce in the fighting is not extended.

• Seventeen Thai hostages freed by Hamas over recent days have landed back in Bangkok, where relatives had gathered at the airport to welcome them home. The latest releases bring the total number of Thai nationals freed to 23, with nine still being held.

Among the Israeli hostages who were released today include two children and six women, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that eight people who were being held hostage in Gaza have been released.

Hamas is willing to further extend a truce to pause fighting with Israel, a source close to Hamas has told Agence France-Presse.

The source told the news agency:

The mediators are currently making strong, intense and continuous efforts for an additional day in the truce and then working to extend it again for other days.

Here’s a clip from Antony Blinken’s press conference earlier, held in Tel Aviv after meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The US secretary of state said the immediate focus of his visit was to try to extend the pause in fighting in Gaza and enable more hostages to be freed.

The US also urged Benjamin Netanyahu to protect civilians in Gaza. Blinken said:

Israel has one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world, it is capable of neutralising the threat while minimising harm to innocent men, women and children.

Two siblings, Aisha Ziyadne, 17, and Bilal Ziyadne, 18, are among the Israeli hostages who have been released tonight.

The pair were abducted from the kibbutz Holit together with their older brother, Hamza, and their father, Yousef.

Since the day of the assault, the extended Ziyadne family has been holding a permanent vigil outside the house of Yousef, the Times of Israel reported.

Ilana Gritzewsky, one of the two Mexican hostages held in Gaza, has been released, Mexico’s foreign minister, Alicia Bárcena, has confirmed.

In a social media post, Bárcena thanked the Qatari government for its “invaluable mediation”, adding that Mexico continues to work for the release of its other citizen, Orion Hernandez.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that eight people who were being held hostage in Gaza have been released.

An ICRC statement reads:

We’re glad to inform that 8 people who were being held hostage in Gaza have just been released, with facilitation from the ICRC.

Our teams have transferred them and handed them over to the Israeli authorities.

This is possible thanks to our neutral intermediary role.

The six Israeli hostages who are being released tonight by Hamas from captivity in Gaza have been named.

They are:

• Aisha Ziyadne, 17

• Bilal Ziyadne, 18

• Nili Margalit, 40

• Shani Goren, 29

• Sapir Cohen, 29

• Ilana Gritzewsky, 30

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al Ansari, said 30 Palestinians will be released on Thursday in exchange for the release of 10 hostages in Gaza.

In a social media post, he said two Russian citizens released on Wednesday were counted on today’s list.

It comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said six Israeli hostages are currently on their way back to Israel territory. Two Israeli hostages have been released earlier today.

Earlier today, an Israeli official reiterated Israel’s position that it would agree to an extra day of truce for the release of each group of 10 hostages. In exchange, three times the number of Palestinian prisoners would be released each time.

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2023-12-01 01:13:00Z
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Henry Kissinger: Most influential US diplomat dies aged 100 – latest - The Independent

Henry Kissinger death: Influential US diplomat, dead at 100

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Henry Kissinger, the Holocaust survivor who became the US’s most influential – and divisive – diplomat, has died at the age of 100.

Kissinger leaves behind a complex legacy, remembered as a master of global politics by some and an alleged war criminal by others.

Born in Bavaria, his family fled to New York City to escape the Holocaust – an experience that would go on to shape his future foreign policy work.

As President Richard Nixon’s National Security Advisor, Kissinger was responsible for negotiating the US’s exit from the unpopular Vietnam War. He won a Nobel Peach Prize for his diplomatic work – but his legacy was then tainted when it emerged he had authorised the secret carpet-bombing of neutral Cambodia, which killed at least 150,000 civilians.

Beyond his diplomacy work, Kissinger briefly enjoyed a reputation as an unlikely ladies’ man and social butterfly in Washington DC, dating several stars of the time before marrying his second wife Nancy – who survives him.

Reaction began pouring in from political and diplomatic allies and foes after his death on Wednesday, with former president George W Bush remembering “his wisdom, his charm, and his humour”.

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How Kissinger’s escape from the Holocaust as a child shaped his future foreign policy

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born on 27 May 1923 in Furth, Bavaria to a Jewish school teacher, Louis Kissinger, and his wife, Paula.

Growing up in the Weimar Republic, his childhood was spent living under Nazi rule.

Then, in August 1938 – shortly before Kristallnacht – a teenage Kissinger and his family fled to New York City.

While the escape saved him from the Holocaust, at least 13 of his close relatives were unable to join them and were eventually killed in the Third Reich’s concentration camps.

This experience stayed with him and he often recalled the antisemitic abuse he and his family faced during their time living in Nazi-occupied Europe.

But, there was another personal experience of the Holocaust that Kissinger rarely spoke about during his decades of public service.

Back in April 1945, while serving in the US Army, the then 22-year-old Army Sergeant was part of the American 84th Infantry Division which helped to liberate a Nazi concentration camp in Ahlem.

In rare comments about that day, Kissinger went on to write: “I see the huts, I observe the empty faces, the dead eyes.

“You are free now. I, with my pressed uniform, I have lived in filth and squalor, I haven’t been beaten and kicked. What kind of freedom can I offer?

“I see my friend enter one of the huts and come out with tears in his eyes. ‘Don’t go in there. We had to kick them to tell the dead from the living.’”

Kissinger described what he saw as an embodiment of “humanity in the 20th century”

Kissinger was acutely aware that – had they not fled a few years earlier – he and his family could have been among the victims.

He would later call that day “one of the most horrifying experiences of my life”.

Rachel Sharp30 November 2023 10:13

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VOICES: The death of Henry Kissinger – and why we will never see his America again

It seems highly fitting, almost poetic, that Henry Kissinger, the man who for so long embodied US foreign policy, should have died at the age of 100 in the midst of a conflict that testifies in many ways to the waning of US diplomatic power.

The arc of Henry Kissinger’s life – starting from service in the US army as a refugee from Nazi Germany, through his key role as US Secretary of State in President Nixon’s opening to China, his contribution to the Paris talks that ended the Vietnam War, and his part in negotiating the resolution of the 1973 Yom Kippur war that established the first lasting peace between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries – tracked the rise of the United States as it became the dominant, and then the sole, superpower, against the background of the Cold War.

So dominant a figure did Kissinger become, through his speaking and writing, through the advice that presidents continued to solicit, and his sheer longevity, that it is hard to believe that his formal government career actually began after the Cuban missile crisis and ended in 1977, long before the fall of the Berlin and the Soviet Union’s collapse. If he was not active in frontline diplomacy, however, his voice was still heard and his influence endured.

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Rachel Sharp30 November 2023 09:48

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Henry Kissinger: Polarising architect of Cold War era American foreign policy

Influential US secretary of state to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as arch practitioner of ‘realpolitik’ who was revered and reviled in equal measure, write Ariana Baio and Joe Sommerlad:

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 08:00

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ICYMI: Henry Kissinger death: Influential US diplomat, dead at 100

Henry Kissinger, the influential US diplomat who served under presidents Nixon and Ford, died on Wednesday, 29 November, according to his consulting firm.

Kissinger, who lived to be 100, died at home in Connecticut of unspecified causes, the firm said.

The diplomat, who served as Secretary of State in multiple administrations, “was a respected American scholar and statesman,” according to Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 07:45

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From our archives: Nobel Peace Prize given to Kissinger despite full knowledge Vietnam War was unlikely to end, archives show

Top US diplomat Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 despite the officials involved fully aware that the Vietnam war was unlikely to end any time in the near future.

This has come to light after newly released papers of nominations for the Peace Prize which remained a secret for 50 years. The documents were awarded on 1 January to the chief negotiator who represented Kissinger and Hanoi after a request was placed for them.

Read the full piece here:

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 07:15

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Chinese state media pays tribute to Kissinger: ‘The old friend of the Chinese people’

“Today, this ‘old friend of the Chinese people,’ who had a sharp vision and a thorough understanding of world affairs, has completed his legendary life,” China News said in an obituary.

On Weibo, the hashtag “Kissinger just came to China this year” went viral. Henry Kissinger visited China more than 100 times in his lifetime and more recently in July this year.

CCTV, the state broadcaster, called Kissinger a “legendary diplomat” and a “living fossil” who had been a witness to the development of China-US relationship.

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 06:45

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Anthony Bourdain’s savaging of Kissinger lights up X

“Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands,” wrote the late chef and TV travel personality.

Graeme Massie30 November 2023 06:00

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Henry Kissinger ‘left an indelible mark on America’s history’

Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state, said Henry Kissinger “was a model of service and a great American” and “left an indelible mark on America’s history”.

In his tribute, Mr Pompeo added: “From the day he came to the United States as a teenager fleeing Nazi Germany, Dr Kissinger dedicated his life to serving this great country and keeping America safe. He left an indelible mark on America’s history and the world.

“I will always be grateful for his gracious advice and help during my own time as Secretary. Always supportive and always informed, his wisdom made me better and more prepared after every one of our conversations,” he wrote on X.

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 05:45

1701321318

Chinese state media pays tribute to Kissinger: ‘The old friend of the Chinese people’

“Today, this ‘old friend of the Chinese people,’ who had a sharp vision and a thorough understanding of world affairs, has completed his legendary life,” China News said in an obituary.

On Weibo, the hashtag “Kissinger just came to China this year” went viral. Henry Kissinger visited China more than 100 times in his lifetime and more recently in July this year.

CCTV, the state broadcaster, called Kissinger a “legendary diplomat” and a “living fossil” who had been a witness to the development of China-US relationship.

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 05:15

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'World has lost a tireless advocate for peace’, Winston Lord says

Winston Lord, a former US ambassador to China, said “the world has lost a tireless advocate for peace”.

Kissinger’s former special assistant at the White House national security council, Mr Lord said in a statement that “America has lost a towering champion for national interest”.

“During more than seven decades, he transformed America’s role in the world, held the nation together during a constitutional crisis, crafted visionary volumes, counselled world leaders, and enriched the national and international discourse,” Mr Lord added.

Maroosha Muzaffar30 November 2023 04:45

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2023-11-30 09:46:05Z
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Israel-Hamas war live: shooting attack in Jerusalem kills three; aid getting into Gaza ‘not even enough for triage’, says UN - The Guardian

Israeli media are reporting that the death toll from a shooting attack in Jerusalem has risen to three after an elderly woman succumbed to her injuries. A 24-year-old woman and a man in his 70s were also killed.

According to police, at around 7.40am local time two gunmen got out of a vehicle and opened fire at people at a bus stop.

Police said two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian in the area returned fire, killing the two attackers. The Shin Bet security agency said the attakers were Hamas members.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said he doubts that Israel is respecting international law in Gaza.

“The footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of children dying, I have serious doubt [Israel] is complying with international humanitarian law,” he said in an interview with Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE.

“What we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable.”

The United Nations has warned that the amount of aid getting into Gaza remains far too low, despite an increase afforded by the temporary ceasefire.

Speaking to reporters via video-link from Gaza, James Elder, a spokesperson for children’s agency Unicef, said a rise in the flow of aid was the “right start”.

“(It’s) definitely the right type of aid - fuel, medicines, food, warmth,” he said.

But he went on to say that the needs in the territory were such that “all this aid is triage... It’s not even enough for triage”.

Triage is a process by which patients are assessed so that resources can be devoted to those who most need them or who are most likely to survive.

“The aid needs to multiply,” Elder added. “Everything here is emergency care right now.”

Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister, Yair Lapid, has said the attack in Jerusalem has brought “another sad and painful morning … for all of us”.

Lapid leads the Yesh Atid party and is widely considered to be in the centre of Israeli politics.

“I send my condolences from the bottom of my heart to the families of the murdered and wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured from the heinous and horrible shooting attack,” he said.

“The security forces will continue to operate around the clock to bring the citizens of Israel to safety and to deal with the terrorist emissaries to the last of them. Israel will continue to strike terror wherever they try to raise their head.”

Seventeen Thai hostages freed by Hamas over recent days have landed back in Bangkok, where relatives had gathered at the airport to welcome them home.

The latest releases bring the total number of Thai nationals freed to 23, with nine still being held.

An El-Al flight carrying the party from Tel Aviv landed at Suvarnabhumi airport soon after 3pm local time (0800 GMT).

“The plane has landed. They are being processed now,” a foreign ministry official told AFP.

Accompanying the party was the Thai foreign minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, who flew to Israel earlier this week and met some of the hostages as they were released.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said the current ceasefire is “producing results” and that the US hopes to see it continue.

Blinken was speaking this morning at a meeting with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, in Tel Aviv as part of his third trip to the region since the 7 October attacks.

“We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families,” he said.

“That should continue today. It’s also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately.

“So this process is producing results. It’s important, and we hope that it can continue.”

Israel’s security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has visited the scene of the shooting in Jerusalem, saying the attack shows the country can only combat Hamas “through war”.

“This type of incident proves again how much we can’t show weakness, how much we have to speak to Hamas only through intentions, only through the war,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.

He also said the shooting demonstrated the need for more Israeli civilians to carry guns.

Ben-Gvir is a member of Israel’s ruling coalition but leads the far-right party Otzma Yehudit and has previously called for an end to the current truce.

Israel’s armed forces have warned people in Gaza not to travel north “for your own safety”, saying the area remains a war zone.

The IDF has said: “You can only move to the south of Wadi Gaza via Salah al-Din Road. It is forbidden to enter the sea. It is forbidden to approach within a kilometre of the border.”

Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza have moved south in the past few weeks in response to Israeli military warnings, leading to concerns about safety and conditions.

Israeli media are reporting that the death toll from a shooting attack in Jerusalem has risen to three after an elderly woman succumbed to her injuries. A 24-year-old woman and a man in his 70s were also killed.

According to police, at around 7.40am local time two gunmen got out of a vehicle and opened fire at people at a bus stop.

Police said two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian in the area returned fire, killing the two attackers. The Shin Bet security agency said the attakers were Hamas members.

Israel’s military confirmed on Thursday that a truce with Hamas will continue, allowing further hostage and prisoner releases and the possibility of more a durable pause in hostilities, writes Jason Burke in Jerusalem.

There were frantic diplomatic efforts through the night to prolong the six-day halt to fighting in Gaza which was set to end at 7am local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday. The current extension appears to be only for 24 hours, though this has yet to be explicitly confirmed by all parties.

The Israeli military’s confirmation came just minutes before the ceasefire was due to expire.

Just over an hour later, a statement from the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the war cabinet had come close to ending the truce after unanimously deciding “that if an acceptable list of further prisoners to be released was not delivered by 0700 this morning [Thursday], fighting would resume at once”.

“A list of women and children – in accordance with the terms of the outline [of the ceasefire agreement last week] – was delivered to Israel a short time ago; therefore, the pause will continue,” it said.

Hamas, which freed 16 hostages in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday night, also confirmed the truce would be extended into a seventh day as did Qatar, which has been acting as a mediator.

Hamas claimed that Israel had refused to receive seven women and children and the bodies of three other hostages in exchange for extending the truce, and the last-minute negotiations underlined the extreme fragility of the current ceasefire agreement, as diplomats rush to find a more durable deal that will prevent a return to war.

Both sides have stressed they have the will and capabilities to continue the conflict.

More details of the shooting in Jerusalem are emerging. A second person has died, Reuters is reporting.

Two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during morning rush hour at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, Israeli police said.

The attackers came from East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem police district commander, Doron Turgeman, told reporters at the scene.

A large number of ambulances and police converged on the street that was crowded with morning commuters, and police said they were searching the area to make sure there were no other attackers.

The violence came as Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their six-day ceasefire in Gaza by one more day to allow negotiators to keep working on deals to swap hostages held in the coastal enclave for Palestinian prisoners.

It is now just past 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here is where the day stands so far:

• The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was due to expire at 7am local time, 5am GMT – has now been extended. The Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram: “In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue.”

• Hamas has also announced its agreement to extend the truce in Gaza for a seventh day.

• Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides, confirmed that another day of temporary truce had been agreed. It revealed more details of the extension, saying it was under the current terms.

• Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said in a statement: “Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the existing conditions, which are a cessation of all military activities and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

• In the lead-up to the deadline, mediators had been racing to reach a deal on another extension after the latest exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

• 16 Hamas-held hostages were released on Wednesday night in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

• Hours before the deadline, Hamas’s armed wing told its fighters in the Gaza Strip to be ready to resume combat if the truce was not renewed. “The Al-Qassam Brigades asks its active forces to maintain high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce,” the militant group said in a statement.

• With just around an hour to go before the truce was due to expire, Hamas said its offer to free another seven hostages, and hand over the bodies of another three it said were killed in Israeli bombardment, had been refused. Reuters reported that Israel was yet to comment on that development.

• China’s government has released a position paper on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The country this month took the chair of the UN security council, and the position paper’s release coincided with an address to the council by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi. The five-point proposal reiterated much of China’s ongoing position on the conflict, which is that a two-state solution remains the answer.

• Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was among 30 prisoners freed by Israel early on Thursday. Israeli troops earlier this month arrested Tamimi, regarded in the occupied West Bank as a hero since she was a teenager, on suspicion of inciting violence. Her mother has denied the allegation and said it was based on a fake social media post, Reuters reports.

One woman has been killed and eight others wounded in a shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

But it is unclear who is responsible for the shooting or the motivation behind it.

Israeli media reported that two shooters opened fire near a bus stop. Magen David Adom said that two of the wounded were in critical condition.

A large number of ambulances and police converged on the scene, which happened during morning rush hour at one of the entrances to the city.

“Two terrorists who arrived at the scene in a vehicle armed with weapons fired at civilians at a bus stop, and they were neutralized by security forces and a civilian who were nearby,” Israeli police said.

“Abhorrent terrorist attack in Jerusalem this morning. We unequivocally condemn such brutal violence,” the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, said.

The Israeli government said it received a new list of women and children hostages in the Gaza Strip to be released by Hamas on Thursday in exchange for a one-day extension of the truce.

“A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue,” said the statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office, without specifying the number of hostages to be released, Agence France-Presse reports.

The truce, initially agreed last Friday, has brought a temporary halt to fighting for an exchange of hostages and prisoners.

The total number of freed hostages stands at 102 people, including 70 Israelis, from about 240 taken to the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s 7 October attacks when militants crossed the border and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s subsequent air and ground campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas officials, and reduced large parts of the north of the territory to rubble.

Israel has released 210 Palestinian prisoners.

In New York, videos posted to social media showed several hundred chanting pro-Palestinian protesters, many carrying Palestinian flags, crowded in front of the News Corp building, not far from the site of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Associated Press reports.

Footage from the scene showed a few protesters clashing with police outside the media company’s building as they tried to push forward to the tree but they were held back by police and the lighting ceremony was not disrupted.

The demonstrators then turned around and marched away down Sixth Avenue.

Last week, a group of protesters carrying a banner that read “Free Palestine” briefly interrupted the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, blocking the front of parade floats on the street.

Qatar has revealed more details of the terms of the current ceasefire extension. Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said in a statement:

Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the existing conditions, which are a cessation of all military activities and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He added that the truce would operate “within the framework of the joint mediation of the State of Qatar with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America,” AFP reports.

Qatar has been engaged in intense negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, to extend the truce in Gaza, which was due to end on Thursday morning.

For a full sum-up of the events leading up to the ceasefire deadline, read our full report which is now live.

Israel’s military said early on Thursday that a truce with Hamas would continue into a seventh day, minutes before it was due to expire, as mediators continued to work towards further exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Let’s look back at events that have just taken place. It’s now 7:15am in Israel and Gaza and 5:15am GMT. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was due to expire at the top of the hour but has now been extended.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram a short time ago:

In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue.

Hamas has also announced its agreement to extend the truce in Gaza for a seventh day, Reuters is reporting.

Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides, confirmed that another day of temporary truce had been agreed.

In the lead-up to the deadline, mediators had been racing to reach a deal on another extension after the latest exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The expiry of the six-day halt to fighting in Gaza was set to end Thursday morning and follows the release of a group of 16 Hamas-held hostages on Wednesday night in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

Since the truce began on 24 November, 70 Israeli hostages have been freed in return for 210 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel said on Wednesday that about 160 hostages are still held in Gaza.

Hours before the deadline, Hamas’s armed wing told its fighters in the Gaza Strip to be ready to resume combat if the truce was not renewed. “The Al-Qassam Brigades asks its active forces to maintain high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce,” the militant group said in a statement.

With just an hour to go before the truce was due to expire, Hamas said its offer to free another seven hostages, and hand over the bodies of another three it said were killed in Israeli bombardment, had been refused. Reuters reported that Israel was yet to comment on that development.

We’ll keep you across any further developments here.

Israel’s military said on Thursday that a truce with Hamas would continue “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement”.

Hamas has agreed to extend the truce for a seventh day, Reuters is reporting.

The six-day halt to fighting in Gaza was set to end at 7am local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday, and follows the release of a group of 16 Hamas-held hostages on Wednesday night in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

There was an emotional meeting between freed Thai hostages and the Thai foreign minister.

Four Thai workers were released late on Wednesday, bringing the total released to 23. Another two were set free on Tuesday and taken to Shamir medical center, where they embraced one another on arrival.

“We survived! We survived!” they cheered, and one was seen wiping away tears.

“We are not part of the conflict,” the foreign minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, said in a Reuters interview after his meeting with the workers on Tuesday. He said there were no conditions for their release.

Thailand’s foreign minister said he hoped for freedom soon for the remaining hostages from his country. Read our full story here.

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2023-11-30 08:47:02Z
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Jerusalem shooting: Three dead after gunmen open fire at bus stop - The Telegraph

A woman and two elderly people have died while six others have been injured in a shooting attack during rush hour in Jerusalem.

Israeli police said that two terrorists arrived at the scene in a vehicle armed with weapons and fired at civilians at a bus stop.

“They were neutralised by security forces and a civilian who were nearby,” they added. 

A large number of ambulances and police converged at the scene on Thursday morning and police said they were searching the area to make sure there were no other attackers.

A 73-year-old man died of his wounds at the Shaare Zedek Hospital, according to the Israeli ambulance service. A 24-year-old died at the scene of the incident. 

Israeli police and rescue workers at the shooting attack site in Jerusalem Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg

The US ambassador to Israel condemned the shooting.

“Abhorrent terrorist attack in Jerusalem this morning. We unequivocally condemn such brutal violence,” Ambassador Jack Lew said.

Tensions have risen in the West Bank following the October 7 attacks and bombardment of Gaza.

More than 240 Palestinians have been killed and at least 3,000 others injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

An eight-year-old boy and a teenager were the latest deaths in the occupied territory, with Israel saying it “responded with live fire... and hits were identified” after suspects hurled explosive devices towards troops.

Israeli officials work at the scene Credit: RONEN ZVULUN

Reports did not specify if it was referring to the boys, who are not seen throwing anything.

Separately, the military said its troops killed two Islamic Jihad militants during the raid.

Palestinian prisoners released as part of the truce with Israel have been arriving in the West Bank in recent days.

Ahed Tamimi, a 22-year-old activist, was the most prominent among them.

Shots were fired at civilians at a bus stop, police said Credit: MENAHEM KAHANA

She gained worldwide fame in 2017 after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral on social media and was arrested on November 6 for “incitement to terrorism” on her Instagram account.

Her mother said Tamimi’s account had been hacked.

So far, the majority of the Palestinians released have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces.

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2023-11-30 08:52:00Z
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