Israel-Hamas war: Israel approves deal to free Gaza hostages
Israel says it will uphold a ceasefire “of at least four days” in exchange for the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in a major breakthrough. Warning: Graphic
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Israel has approved a deal to free 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a truce, according to an official statement from the Prime Minister’s office.
“The government approved the broad outlines of the first stage of an agreement under which at least 50 kidnapped people — women and children — will be released over four days during which there will be a lull in the fighting,” the statement said.
An Israeli government official briefing reporters said that the deal is expected to see the release of 50 living Israeli citizens, mostly women and children, in groups of 12-13 people per day.
Israel believes Hamas could potentially locate some 30 more Israeli mothers and children beyond the initial 50, and that the halt in fighting could be extended by a day for each group of 10 more Israeli hostages who are located and freed, a government official told The Times of Israel.
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The Times of Israel reports that in exchange for the release of hostages, “Israel has agreed to a ceasefire for at least four days for the first time since the outbreak of the war.”
The deal also includes an agreement by Israel to allow “around 300 aid trucks per day to enter Gaza from Egypt” as well as additional fuel.
A government statement announcing the result of the vote did not detail how ministers voted, The Times of Israel reports.
It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that accepting a deal for the release of hostages taken in the Hamas attacks of October 7 was “a difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.
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JOE BIDEN ‘RELIEVED’ OVER DEAL
US President Joe Biden has released a statement welcoming the deal to release captives held by Hamas.
Mr Biden thanked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt for “their critical leadership and partnership in reaching this deal.”
He said “I appreciate the commitment that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have made in supporting an extended pause.”
“I look forward to speaking with each of these leaders and staying in close contact as we work to ensure this deal is carried through in its entirety,” Mr Biden said.
“It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented.”
Although the statement issued by the White House did not repeat specific details of the deal already released by Israel, Hamas and Qatar as mediator, Mr Biden’s statement did refer specifically to US citizens.
“Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released,” he said.
He added: “I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls... will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented.”
A senior US official said three Americans, including three-year-old Abigail Mor Idan, were among the 50 earmarked for staggered release from Thursday.
AUSTRALIA GRANTS VISAS TO 860 PALESTINIANS
Hundreds of Palestinians with family connections to Australia have been granted temporary visas to enter the country as they flee the Hamas-Israel war.
The Australian Government has approved 860 visas for Palestinians with relatives in Australia between October 7 and November 20, the Department of Home Affairs confirmed on Wednesday.
It is understood family members have been sponsoring applications for their relatives to flee the violence and come to Australia on visitor visas, which allow the Palestinians to remain for three to 12 months.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said over the same period since October 7, Australia had issued 1793 visas to Israeli citizens.
“There is obviously a lot of demand from those in the region for Australian visas, for people who are eligible.”
Ms Wong said people who obtain visas to Australia are “subject to appropriate security checks”.
ISRAELI FORCES RAID HOSPITAL IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK
Israeli soldiers have raided the emergency department of Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem, and forcefully arrested an injured patient, who was seeking treatment there.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the condition of the injured patient is unclear.
It was reported earlier that two strikes hit a house in the Balawneh neighbourhood in the Tulkarem refugee camp, wounding at least three young men.
But according to Wafa, Israeli forces surrounded the hospital and obstructed ambulance crew trying to reach the injured victims.
Israeli military vehicles also blocked the entrances to the hospital, hindering the arrival of injured people trying to receive emergency medical care, Wafa reported.
QATAR CONFIRMS HUMANITARIAN PAUSE
Qatar, the mediator in the Gaza truce talks, has confirmed that a humanitarian pause has been agreed in Gaza.
In a statement posted by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided additional detail including that:
- The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours
- The pause will last for four days, subject to extension.
- The agreement includes the release of 50 civilian women and children hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons.
The State of Qatar announces that a humanitarian pause has been agreed in Gaza
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) November 22, 2023
Doha - 22 November 2023
The State of Qatar announces the success of its joint mediation efforts undertaken with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America between Israel and the…
US JEWISH GROUP OPPOSING ISRAELI WAR WELCOMES TRUCE
IfNotNow national spokesperson Eva Borgwardt has welcomed the “temporary cessation of hostilities between Israeli and Hamas”.
“Negotiations must build on this agreement to secure a long-term ceasefire that is still urgently needed to end the bloodshed, bring every hostage home, and rebuild Gaza,” she said in a statement.
“As the millions calling for a ceasefire have been saying for over a month, this deal is proof that there is no military solution to this crisis.”
The group has opposed Israel’s military operation in Gaza and has long been a critic of the Israeli “apartheid” against Palestinians.
We're relieved that so many Israelis & Palestinians will be freed to return to their families.
— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) November 22, 2023
A permanent ceasefire & diplomatic negotiations are the only path to ending the bloodshed, bringing every hostage home, and rebuilding Gaza.
Our statement: https://t.co/D9WCxOBc0hpic.twitter.com/dhBvfzzwg2
GIRL, 3, AMONG HOSTAGES TO BE FREED
The first release of hostages is expected on Thursday due to a 24-hour waiting period before the deal is implemented.
The delay due to the fact that Israeli citizens will be given the chance to ask the Supreme Court to block the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to reports in Israeli media.
Three Americans held by Hamas in Gaza are expected to be among those released, according to Reuters.
The three include a three-year-old girl whose parents were among the more than 1,200 people killed in the October 7 attack, an official said.
“I would say it’s at least 50 of the women and children over a period of four to five days,” the official said, without providing details of any other nationalities expected to be released.
PM’S OFFICE ISSUES FORMAL STATEMENT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has issued a formal statement confirming the cabinet’s decision to approve the first hostage deal of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“The Israeli government is committed to bringing all the abductees home,” the statement said.
“Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal, under which at least 50 abductees — women and children — will be released over a span of four days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting.
“The release of every ten additional abductees will result in an additional day of respite.
“The Israeli government, the IDF and the security forces will continue the war to return all the abductees, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that Gaza does not renew any threat to the State of Israel.”
BLINKEN TO VISIT ISRAEL
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to visit Israel early next week for talks with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, according to the Walla news site.
Mr Blinken is expected to arrive during a several day ceasefire tipped to take effect this week as part of the hostage release deal.
GAZA DEATH TOLL SOARS
Gaza’s Hamas government says the death toll in the Palestinian territory has reached 14,128 since war began on October 7 between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.
The Hamas government said 5,840 children and 3,920 women were among the dead, with another 33,000 people wounded.
Its health ministry has previously said it can no longer give exact tolls as intense fighting has prevented bodies from being recovered
HOSTAGE RELEASE PROCESS TO INCLUDE FIVE STAGES
Israel’s Channel 12 reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has developed a set process through which the hostages will be released and transferred to Israel.
First, Hamas is set to hand over the hostages to the Red Cross and they will then be transferred to Israel Defense Forces representatives.
The hostages will then undergo a medical check and be taken to one of five isolated medical centres across Israel to meet with their families.
In the fourth stage, medical and defence authorities will determine together whether at least some of the hostages can be debriefed.
In the final stage, the hostages will undergo a debriefing with security officials.
NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL WILL CONTINUE WAR
Israel will continue its war against Hamas even if a temporary ceasefire is reached to release hostages, Mr Netanyahu said in a televised video statement.
He said the Israeli security forces supported the deal and war would continue “until all our goals are achieved.”
The return of hostages was a “sacred priority and I am committed to it,” he added.
“We will not rest until everyone is returned. The war has stages and the return of the hostages will have stages.”
PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE IN SYDNEY
More than 20 protesters have been arrested after clashing with police during ugly scenes at Sydney’s Port Botany on Tuesday.
Close to 400 demonstrators assembled on Foreshore Rd chanting “free Palestine”, banging drums and waving Palestinian flags at the loading dock of a ship owned by Israeli company ZIM.
Group organisers said in a note prior to the event: “There’s no place for ZIM in Port Botany, come along tonight to put pressure on its port to suspend its contract.”
The peaceful protest quickly turned ugly when scuffles erupted between the activists and police as officers pulled demonstrators to their feet.
A small child in a pram was even captured being carried over the heads of protesters as police on horseback moved through the crowd.
HOSTAGE DEAL TO SEE RELEASE OF 30 KIDS
The Netanyahu cabinet has the majority to okay the developing hostage deal amid far-right opposition, The Times of Israel reports.
The hostage deal would see the release of 30 children, eight mothers and 12 women held by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas has claimed it cannot immediately locate 10 extra children abducted during the October 7 attacks.
Hamas has said it has 210 of the about 240 hostages abducted last month and Islamic Jihad is said to be holding many of the remaining hostages, The Times of Israel reports.
Israel believes Hamas may prove able to locate and release up to 30 more Israeli women and children.
HOUTHI REBELS ‘HIJACK ISRAEL-LINKED SHIPS’
Dramatic footage shows Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen hijacking what they say was an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea on Sunday,
Israeli officials, however, have insisted that the vessel has no links to the country.
The New York Post reports that footage released by the Houthi television station Al Masirah shows armed fighters rappelling onto the deck of the Bahamas-flagged vehicle carrier Galaxy Leader from a helicopter.
They then held the 25 crew members at gunpoint, according to reports.
Their entry was notably similar to the method used by Iranian forces during vessel seizures in the Strait of Hormuz, The Times of Israel reported. One of the rebels could be heard shouting what sounded like the Houthi slogan while he paced the deck.
The act is the first official entry into a foreign war by the Houthis, which was designated as a terrorist group by the US until February 2021.
CASUALTIES CONTINUE AMID WAR
Terror group Hamas claims the death toll in the Palestinian territory had reached 14,128 since it began its war against Israel on October 7.
The figures have not been independently verified by international organisations, and Hamas did not break out how many of those deaths were of its militants battling Israeli forces and how many were civilians.
It claimed 5840 were children and 3920 were woman, while another 33,000 people were allegedly wounded.
PATIENTS FLEE GAZA HOSPITAL
Israel has allowed 200 patients to flee a second hospital in besieged Gaza after a rocket struck its second storey, killing at least 12 patients and wounding dozens of their family members.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) said it was unaware of the attack on the Indonesian Hospital at Jabaliya in Gaza’s north, but confirmed troops and tanks had fired on Hamas militants working from within the hospital’s 1.4 hectare compound.
Doctors said there were about 400 more patients still in the hospital and talks with the Red Cross to escort them out were ongoing, amid concerns the Israel Defence Force troops would enter the facility, as they did with nearby Al-Shifa Hospital.
BABIES EVACUATED FROM GAZA
Gaza’s hospitals have become a central focus of the conflict, with very different narratives from the IDF and Hamas about their role in the war. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed about them.
There were 28 babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital to Egypt on Monday but 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain even though it can no longer offer medical treatment.
“The Israeli army is laying siege to the Indonesian hospital,” Palestinian Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
As well as patients there were about 2000 displaced locals in the hospital area, he said.
“We fear the same thing will happen there as it did in Al-Shifa.”
JORDAN’S CROWN PRINCE ARRIVES IN EGYPT
Such is the movement of sick patients, Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah arrived in Egypt to personally supervise the delivery of a second field hospital to be built in southern Gaza, to be staffed with at least 180 doctors and nurses.
Medical staff at the other Jordanian hospital in central Gaza were injured by the bombing of a nearby mosque suspected by the IDF to have been used as a weapons factory.
Jordan has also set up another field hospital in the West Bank where more than 210 Palestinians have been killed and 2800 injured by Israeli forces and armed settlers since October 7, when Hamas militants rampaged into Israel, killing at least 1200 mostly Israeli civilians.
The United Nations, meanwhile, has said it now had 900,000 Palestinians in its shelters with nearly three quarters of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents displaced. With very few areas safe, the UN has voiced concern the concentration of so many people risked further deaths particularly if an accidental rocket was fired by either Israel or Hamas.
Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps on Tuesday killed at least 40 people with another dozen killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Ironically these camps were born from the previous Israel-Arab war.
TRUCE AGREEMENT “CLOSE”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has claimed they are “close” to reaching a deal with Israel on a truce, in a statement posted on Telegram.
Two sources familiar with the truce talks also told AFP a tentative deal includes a five-day truce, comprised of a ceasefire on the ground and limits to Israeli air operations over southern Gaza.
In return, some of the Israeli hostages would be released along with some Palestinians, including women and children, in Israeli prisons which is also reportedly being discussed.
“The movement delivered its response to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement,” Haniyeh said.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed so far, with at least half being children. The figure doesn’t include the thousands injured or stuck under the rubble.
50 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN WAR
According to press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists, 50 journalists have been killed since the conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
It has been the deadliest month for journalists since the group began tracking deaths in 1992.
The death toll surpasses the 15 journalists killed in the Russia-Ukraine war, which is still ongoing.
“CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” the group said in a statement.
“Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats.
Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”
– with AFP
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