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🔴 Live: Gaza hostage release under truce deal will not happen before Friday, says Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser on Wednesday said the release of hostages from Gaza under a temporary truce agreement will not happen until Friday. The Qatari-negotiated truce deal between Israel and Hamas marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict and allows at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, while offering besieged Gaza residents a four-day truce and humanitarian aid after weeks of all-out war. Follow our live blog for the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
Issued on: 22/11/2023 – 02:36
Modified: 22/11/2023 – 10:22
1 min
A woman stands at a bus stop in Tel Aviv near a combination of photos and a sign calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants, on November 21, 2023 in Tel Aviv.
A woman stands at a bus stop in Tel Aviv near a combination of photos and a sign calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants, on November 21, 2023 in Tel Aviv. © Ahmad Gharabli, AFP
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SUMMARY
Israel’s Cabinet approved a ceasefire with Hamas that includes the release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.
The deal will allow hundreds of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid trucks to enter all parts of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the war against Hamas would continue after the truce. In a nationally televised address Wednesday night, he said the deal included a provision for the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Leading international NGOs said the four-day truce period is too short and warned that the management of humanitarian operations in Gaza would be difficult.
The World Health Organization has warned that medical services in Gaza have suffered “catastrophic” damage.
Israel launched attacks on Gaza after Hamas militants crossed the border on October 7 and killed 1,200 Israelis. More than 240 others were taken hostage.
More than 13,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel started its military operation, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.
13 minutes ago
US shoots down multiple drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen
The United States shot down multiple one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in
Yemen on Thursday morning local time, US Central Command said on X.
“The drones were shot down while the US warship was on patrol in the Red Sea. The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury,” the post said.
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2 hours ago
Israel unveils what it claims is a major Hamas militant hideout beneath Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital
The Israeli military on Wednesday unveiled what it claimed was a Hamas military facility under Gaza’s largest hospital, showing what appeared to be a subterranean dormitory to a group of foreign journalists who were given a rare glimpse inside the besieged enclave.
Dozens of soldiers escorted journalists through a narrow stone tunnel — which the military said stretched 150 meters (164 yards) — to a series of underground bunkers beneath Shifa Hospital in a shattered Gaza City.
The living quarters, located at the end of the tunnel, had an air conditioner, kitchen, bathroom and pair of metal cots in a room fashioned from rusty white tile. They appeared to be out of use.
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2 hours ago
Humanitarians want more aid for Gaza, access to hostages under Israel-Hamas truce
International aid groups say they are ready to deliver thousands of truckloads of food, water and other supplies to besieged Gaza if a temporary cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war takes hold.
Some hailed an important first step, but many said Wednesday that a four-day truce isn’t enough to meet overwhelming needs after seven weeks of fighting have displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now living in miserable conditions.
Key details of the accord announced Wednesday remain unclear, including the mechanics of getting more aid to desperate civilians and escorting the first group of Israeli hostages out of Gaza where they have been held since Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage in Israel.
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2 hours ago
Iran says Gaza war will grow if truce doesn’t hold
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Wednesday that the threat of the Gaza war spreading would grow unless a truce between Israel and Hamas lasts, in an interview as he visited Beirut.
“If this ceasefire starts tomorrow, if it does not continue… the conditions in the region will not remain the same as before the ceasefire and the scope of the war will expand,” Amir-Abdollahian told the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television channel, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
“We do not seek to expand the scope of the war,” he added. “If the intensity of the war increases, every possibility is conceivable for the expansion of the scope of the war.”
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3 hours ago
Israeli strike kills five Hezbollah fighters, including senior member’s son
An Israeli strike on the village of Beit Yahoun in south Lebanon on Wednesday evening killed five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of a senior Hezbollah member, according to Hezbollah and three sources with knowledge of the situation.
The group announced on late Wednesday night the death of five of its members, bringing the total toll of Hezbollah fighters killed since violence broke out along the border to 85.
Among those named was Abbas Raad, who sources said was the son of senior Hezbollah figure and member of parliament Mohammad Raad, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2019.
Two Hezbollah sources and one security source told Reuters that the five were killed in an Israeli strike on the village of Beit Yahoun.
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4 hours ago
Biden tells Egypt’s Sisi US opposes forced relocation of Palestinians, says White House
US President Joe Biden told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a phone call on Wednesday the US would not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, or the besiegement of
Gaza, or the redrawing of Gaza’s borders, the White House said.
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4 hours ago
Israel says Gaza hostage release will not happen before Friday
Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser said a planned hostage-for-prisoner swap with Hamas will not happen before Friday.
“Negotiations for the release of our captives are progressing and continue all the time,” Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement released by the prime minister’s office.
“The start of the release will proceed according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” Hanegbi said.
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4 hours ago
At least four killed in Israeli strike on south Lebanon: sources
At least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Wednesday, according to sources.
The son of Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, “was killed with a number of other Hezbollah members” in an Israeli strike on a house in Beit Yahun, a source close to the family told AFP.
Violence along the border broke out after militant group the October 7 Hamas attack. Israel and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have exchanged rocket fire in fighting that has steadily escalated.
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5 hours ago
‘The war is continuing,’ says Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, joined by the two other members of his special war cabinet, told a nationally televised news conference that the war against Hamas would resume after the truce expires.
“I want to be clear. The war is continuing. The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said, adding he had delivered the same message in a phone call to US President Joe Biden.
He also said he had instructed the Mossad spy agency to hunt down Hamas’ exiled leadership “wherever they are”.
Netanyahu said the deal also included a provision for the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the hostages in captivity.
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5 hours ago
Iran says Gaza war scope will grow if truce doesn’t hold
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned that the scope of the Gaza war would expand unless a truce between Israel and Hamas lasts.
“If this ceasefire starts tomorrow, if it does not continue… the conditions in the region will not remain the same as before the ceasefire and the scope of the war will expand,” Amir-Abdollahian told the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV station during a visit to Beirut.
“We do not seek to expand the scope of the war,” he added, saying: “If the intensity of the war increases, every possibility is conceivable for the expansion of the scope of the war.”
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran saw two options: “First, a humanitarian ceasefire that turns into a permanent ceasefire.”
“The second way is to threaten the Palestinian people, then the Palestinian people will decide for themselves,” he said, adding that “Netanyahu cannot fulfil his dream of destroying Hamas.”
“We support whatever decision Hamas makes,” he added.
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7 hours ago
France says Israel-Hamas truce must work towards ‘lasting ceasefire’
The deal between Israel and Hamas to free 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant group should be “broadened” and the “humanitarian pause” it brings used to work towards a “lasting ceasefire”, the French presidency said on Wednesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron told visiting foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim countries that Israel’s security must be “taken into account by everyone”, his office added.
“There will be no lasting ceasefire without very solid guarantees on Israel’s security,” Macron told top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey as well as the secretary general of the Arab League.
Macron’s office said the Egyptian minister mentioned his intention to “facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza” and the possibility of the UN Security Council adopting a resolution on the issue.
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7 hours ago
Biden calls Qatari emir to thank him for mediation
US President Joe Biden spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani about the deal to release hostages held by Hamas amid the conflict with Israel and about the latest developments in the region, the White House said on Wednesday.
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8 hours ago
France calls for EU sanctions against Hamas officials
France wants the EU to impose sanctions against top Hamas leaders following the Palestinian group’s October 7 attacks on Israel, according to a senior French official.
France “is pushing for sanctions at the European level against senior Hamas figures, individually, because for the moment … the European Union only condemns the organisation as a whole,” Laurence Boone, secretary of state for European affairs, told AFP on the sidelines of an international meeting in Madrid.
The idea would be to “specifically target certain individuals” with “mainly financial” sanctions such as an asset freeze, she added without specifying who should be targeted.
France also wants EU sanctions slapped on people linked to Hamas and its ally, Lebanon’s pro-Iran Hezbollah, like the sanctions the bloc has imposed on some Iranians over their role in the war in Ukraine.
France’s proposal could be adopted by EU foreign ministers in December, Boone said. It has the backing of Germany and Italy, according to her entourage.
The US in October imposed sanctions against 10 “key” members of Hamas based in Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar who are involved in financing the group’s activities.
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8 hours ago
Amnesty, Save the Children and other NGOs call for longer truce
Major international NGOs have said the four-day truce period is too short and warned that the management of humanitarian operations in Gaza would be difficult.
On a conference call of leading international NGOs, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, Paul O’Brien, said the lull was “not enough and it’s certainly not enough in human rights terms”.
Jason Lee, Save the Children director for the Palestinian Territories, said while the truce was “a welcome step in the right direction, it cannot replace a ceasefire”.
“There must be a ceasefire from an operational perspective and from a safety perspective,” he added.
The head of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, Catherine Russell, earlier told the UN Security Council that Gaza was “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child”.
The executive director of medical charity Medecins du Monde, Joel Weiler, said the truce could bring some respite.
“We may be able to bring drugs, fuel, but we will not be able to manage it correctly, and to reach people that are in need,” he added.
Danila Zizi, Handicap International director for the Palestinian Territories, agreed, calling temporary lulls in the fighting “nowhere near enough to reach the population in need”.
“In four hours or four days, we cannot deliver food to two million people, care to two million people,” she said.
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9 hours ago
Cameron discusses Gaza’s future with Arab, Muslim diplomats
British foreign minister David Cameron met his counterparts from Arab and Islamic countries in London on Wednesday to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“We discussed how to use this step forward to think about the future and how we can build a peaceful future which provides security for Israel but also peace and stability for the Palestinian people”, Cameron said in a statement.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Turkey, Indonesia and Nigeria, as well as the secretary general of the League of Arab States and ambassador of Qatar attended the meeting, Britain said.
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10 hours ago
‘Agonising week’ as families worry about practicalities of truce deal
Reporting from Jerusalem, FRANCE 24’s Irris Makler explains that while most Israelis are pleased with the four-day truce deal, families of the hostages were also anxious about practical details that could jeopardise the agreement.
Under the deal, 50 of the estimated 240 hostages in Gaza are set to be released over the next four days. “This means 190 left behind,” says Makler.
Families are also likely to be split, with husbands staying behind while wives, children and grandparents are set for release. The deal originally envisaged the release of children and their mothers, explains Makler.
“But Hamas says it can only find 30 of the 40 children known to be kidnapped. The other 10 children are yet to be found, so 10 older women will be released as part of this deal,” says Makler.
“So all of these practical issues all together are very worrying for people here. You can see that it’s going to be an agonising week,” she notes.
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11 hours ago
Israel intercepts cruise missile fired towards south, says IDF
The Israeli military on Wednesday said it intercepted a cruise missile fired towards the south of the country.
After reports of “an infiltration by a hostile aircraft” near the southern Red Sea resort of Eilat, an Israeli fighter jet “successfully intercepted a cruise missile that was launched toward Israel”, it said in a statement.
“No infiltration into Israeli territory was identified,” the military added.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have declared themselves part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran’s allies and proxies, have fired a series of drones and missiles towards Israel since the Gaza war erupted.
On October 20, a US Navy ship in the Red Sea shot down three missiles and several drones fired by Houthi rebels in an attack that the Pentagon said was likely aimed at Israel.
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11 hours ago
US opposes displacement of Gazans to another country, says US special envoy
The US is against the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to another country, US special envoy for humanitarian affairs in the Middle East David Satterfield has told Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed.
Satterfield said Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza to the southern districts due to Israel’s military operations “must be allowed to return to homes in the north as soon as possible”.
He said the US “wants to see Israel succeed in its campaign”, and warned Hezbollah to halt missile fire on Israel if it wanted to avoid an escalation.
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12 hours ago
‘From grandfather to grandchildren’: More than 50 from same family killed in Gaza
With hours to go before the truce deal begins, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have continued today.
More than 50 members of the same family have been killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to the Palestinian foreign minister.
“Only this morning, from the Qadoura family in Jabaliya, 52 people have been wiped out completely, killed,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on the sidelines of a briefing by Arab and Muslim foreign ministers in London.
“I have the list of the names, 52 of them, they were wiped out completely from grandfather to grandchildren.”
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About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the enclave, receives data from every hospital in the strip. Hospital administrators say they keep records of every wounded person occupying a bed and every body arriving at a morgue. The ministry also collects from other sources including the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”. The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
Key Developments from Tuesday, November 21:
At least 13,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,500 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the government media office in the Hamas-controlled enclave said on Saturday.
Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial attack by Hamas, and around 240 were taken captive by militants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet Tuesday night that a hostage deal is the “right decision”.
US President Joe Biden said that a deal to free some of the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza was “very close”.
Israel, the US and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks to secure a hostage release deal that would be paired with a temporary ceasefire and the entry of more humanitarian aid into Gaza
Read yesterday’s blog here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
