Thursday, November 23, 2023
14:30 GMT — Mediator Qatar says Israel-Hamas truce to start at 7 am on Friday
A humanitarian pause in Gaza will start at 7 am local time (0500GMT) on Friday, Qatar has announced.
“The first group of civilian hostages will be swapped at around 4 pm on Friday,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha.
He said 50 hostages will be released in four days.
“The first group of hostages will include 13 women and children,” he added.
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13:04 GMT — Israel-Hamas deal must start 'without further delay': France
France has said an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of 50 hostages in exchange for a humanitarian truce should go ahead "without further delay".
Paris is also urging "the immediate release of all hostages", said Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry. "We call for the terms of this agreement to be fully respected," she added.
Israel has made a truce deal with Hamas but it says no hostages are expected to be released until at least Friday.
12:33 GMT — The Israeli army has called for the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza within four hours, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said.
The Israeli army wants to enter the hospital for "military operations" and has demanded its evacuation within four hours, Health Ministry Director General Dr Munir Al Borsh told Al Jazeera.
Al Borsh said that the Indonesian Hospital has been besieged by the Israeli army and continued strikes are taking place in its vicinity.
Noting that there are currently about 200 people in the hospital, the official said that 450 patients left the hospital on Wednesday. There are 65 bodies in the hospital that could not be buried, and 50 of them have been waiting in the hospital garden for more than 10 days, he added.
12:30 GMT — Hardline Israeli minister threatens to quit government if Gaza fighting stops
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign from the government if fighting does not resume following the end of the four-day humanitarian pause announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ben-Gvir made the statement to Channel 14, commenting on the Israeli government's approval of the humanitarian pause, which he rejected.
He said he heard from Netanyahu that fighting would resume after the four-day pause, but if fighting ceased, "we will have nothing to do in this government."
12:22 GMT — Gaza humanitarian pause deal 'a step in right direction', says Malaysia
Malaysia welcomed the new deal between Israel and Hamas for a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting in Gaza, calling it a "step in the right direction".
Hailing the role played by Qatar, Egypt and the US in reaching the deal between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said the step would "bring to an end the killing of civilians and minimise the suffering of the people in Gaza."
It, however, called on "concerned parties to intensify efforts for a permanent cessation of hostilities."
12:18 GMT — Netanyahu threatens to kill Hamas leaders 'wherever they are'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the country's intelligence agency, Mossad, to target Hamas leaders everywhere.
In response to a question about whether top Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal, would be able to control Gaza after the war, Netanyahu said at a press conference in Tel Aviv that he has instructed the Mossad "to act against the Hamas leaders wherever they are."
To another question about whether the upcoming humanitarian pause would include Israeli military action against Hamas abroad, Netanyahu said there is "no such obligation."
12:00 GMT — Ceasefire delayed over 'last minute' hostage list details: Palestinian official
A Palestinian official said a delay in implementation of a truce in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas was due to "last minute" details over which hostages would be released and how.
The truce, widely expected to go into force on Thursday but delayed during the night, had been put back over "the names of the Israeli hostages and the modalities of their release", said the official, who has knowledge of the negotiation process.
Lists of those to be freed had been exchanged by both sides, the official added. Questions were also being raised over Red Cross access to the hostages before they would be released into Egypt, the official said, and whether the Red Cross would have access to those who remained.
11:52 GMT — Israeli forces arrest Al Shifa director, several medical personnel: hospital staff
A doctor at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that the facility's director and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces.
"Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors," said Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the hospital which has been a major focus of the controversial Israeli operation.
11:46 GMT — Talks on details of humanitarian pause in Gaza going well: Qatar
Qatar said that talks with Egypt on the details of the humanitarian pause in Gaza are going well.
Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on X that an announcement on the start time of the pause is expected in the coming hours.
He stressed that work is underway with Israel and Hamas, as well as Egypt and the US, to ensure a swift start to the pause and to provide the required support to guarantee commitment from both sides to the deal.
11:40 GMT — UN says 22 healthcare workers killed in Gaza amid Israeli war
The United Nations said that 22 healthcare workers have been killed across Gaza since the war began on October 7.
"Since the start of the war, the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 178 health attacks in the Gaza Strip that resulted in 22 fatalities and 48 injuries among healthcare workers on duty," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a press briefing.
He said that currently, nearly 770,000 internally displaced persons out of 1.7 million are sheltering in 99 UNRWA facilities in the southern part of Gaza.
11:35 GMT — Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza ahead of humanitarian pause
Israel intensified its attacks across Gaza shortly before a humanitarian pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters was set to take effect.
The Israeli army struck several areas across the besieged enclave, particularly in the northern parts, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
It said a number of people were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes on residential homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
11:30 GMT — Anadolu photographer loses 47 members of his extended family in Israeli air strike
Anadolu freelance photographer Montaser Al Sawwaf recounted how he was wounded in an Israeli air strike on the Al Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City which also killed 47 members of his extended family, with others still under the rubble.
"Last Friday night, Israeli warplanes raided my family's home and destroyed it completely while my family was inside," Montaser said.
"The bombardment caused the martyrdom of my parents, two of my brothers, a number of their children and other cousins," he added. "As for me, I sustained a moderate injury to my face."
11:24 GMT — Israel-Hamas hostage agreement 'progress toward lasting peace': Trudeau
The return of Israeli hostages and the temporary suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas are steps toward eventual peace, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
"This is an important bit of progress, but we have to redouble our efforts now to get toward a lasting peace," Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Under the humanitarian pause and hostage deal brokered with the help of Egypt, Qatar and the US, 50 hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas will be released over four days, with Israel handing over 150 Palestinians.
11:12 GMT — US intercepts multiple attack drones launched from Yemen: Pentagon
The United States has intercepted multiple attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, the Central Command said.
"The drones were shot down while the U.S. warship was on patrol in the Red Sea," CENTCOM said on X, formerly Twitter.
"The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury."
11:18 GMT — Turkish foreign minister presses for cease-fire in Gaza
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, diplomatic sources said.
Fidan visited London and Paris with his counterparts from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League as part of efforts to stop the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace.
He said countries with influence over Israel should press for peace.
11:15 GMT — French, Israeli defence chiefs discuss Israel-Hamas hostage swap
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant held talks on the humanitarian pause agreement for a hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas.
During a phone call with Gallant, Lecornu said his country will continue efforts for all the hostages to be released.
Lecornu also welcomed the humanitarian pause agreement for the hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.
05:27 GMT - US will not allow expulsion of Palestinians - Biden
US President Joe Biden has told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in a phone call that the US would not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from besieged Gaza or the occupied West Bank, or the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of Gaza's borders, the White House said in a statement.
"The President affirmed his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state and recognised Egypt's essential role in setting the conditions for that outcome," the White House said.
05:00 GMT - US intercepts multiple attack drones launched from Yemen: Pentagon
The United States has intercepted multiple attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, the Central Command said. "The drones were shot down while the U.S. warship was on patrol in the Red Sea. The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury," CENTCOM said on X, previously Twitter.
04:30 GMT - Israel says no release of captives before Friday
Israel's national security adviser has said that no captives held by Hamas resistance group in besieged Gaza would be released before Friday despite the two sides agreeing on a truce. One senior official told the AFP news agency that fighting in Gaza will continue until Friday.
"The contacts on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly," National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement. "The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday."
There will be no halt to war in Gaza "before Friday", an Israeli official told the AFP early on Thursday. There will be "no pause" in the fighting, the source said, delaying a widely anticipated lull which had been expected to start at 10:00 am local time, according to another Israeli source.
04:05 GMT - Israel 'kills' son of senior Hezbollah lawmaker
The son of a senior Hezbollah lawmaker has been killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon, a source close to the family told the AFP news agency.
Abbas Raad, son of the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad, "was killed with a number of other Hezbollah members" in an Israeli strike on a house in Beit Yahun, the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Lebanon's official National News Agency said that "an air strike launched by the Israeli enemy ... on a house in Beit Yahun killed four people" and wounded others.
For our live updates from Wednesday (November 22), click here.
