[1/10]People react after the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 28, 2023. Portal/Ammar Awad ACKNOWLEDGES LICENSE
- LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- Israel has received a list of hostages expected to be released by Hamas on Wednesday – media
- Qatar hosts a meeting of Israel’s Mossad and CIA to discuss possible parameters of a new phase of the ceasefire agreement – source
- A new phase could include the release by Hamas of hostages who are men or military personnel – source
GAZA/JERUSALEM, Nov 29 (Portal) – Hamas and Israel were set to release more hostages and prisoners on Wednesday, the final day of an extended six-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip conflict, as attention turned to whether mediator Qatar would agree to another ceasefire could negotiate an extension.
Israeli media, citing the prime minister’s office, reported that Israel had received a list of hostages expected to be released by Hamas on Wednesday. The Prime Minister’s Office had no immediate comment.
Israel said the ceasefire could be further extended if Hamas continued to release at least 10 Israeli hostages per day. But with fewer women and children still in captivity, it may be necessary to negotiate beyond the initial release of at least some Israeli men to keep the weapons secret beyond Wednesday.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas and its allied Islamic Jihad group released 12 hostages on Tuesday, bringing the total number of people released since the ceasefire began on Friday to 81. These were mainly Israeli women and children as well as foreign citizens.
The hostages – 10 Israeli women and two Thai citizens – ranged in age from 17 to 84, including a mother-daughter pair. All were first medically examined and then transferred to Israeli hospitals where they were to meet their families.
A short time later, Israel released 30 Palestinians from Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and an internment camp in Jerusalem. The Palestinian Prisoners Club, a semi-official organization, said half of the prisoners were women and the rest were male teenagers. This brings the total number of Palestinians released under the ceasefire to 180.
The hostages were among about 240 people captured by Hamas gunmen during a rampage in southern Israel on October 7 that Israel said killed 1,200 people. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killed more than 15,000 Gazans, according to local health authorities.
Qatar, which brokered indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that led to the ceasefire, hosted spy chiefs from Israel’s Mossad and the US CIA on Tuesday.
The officials discussed possible parameters of a new phase of the ceasefire agreement, including the release by Hamas of hostages who are men or military personnel, not just women and children, a source briefed on the matter said. They also considered what it might take to achieve a ceasefire that would last longer than a few days.
Qatar spoke to Hamas ahead of the meeting to get a sense of what the group might agree on. The Israelis and Hamas are currently discussing internally the ideas discussed at the meeting, the source added.
Separately, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations called for an extension of the ceasefire and more humanitarian aid in a joint statement on Tuesday.
About 159 hostages remain in Gaza. The White House said on Tuesday that eight to nine of them were Americans. U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is confident Hamas will release more Americans and the U.S. government will work with Qatar to extend the pause in fighting.
“We want all hostages to be released. The way to do that is through these breaks,” Kirby told reporters traveling on the president’s plane on Tuesday.
WARNING OF MORE DEATHS FROM DISEASE IN GAZA
The ceasefire has given Gaza its first respite after seven weeks of fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the coastal enclave to rubble. It was set to expire overnight on Tuesday, but both sides agreed to extend the pause to allow more people to be released.
Israel’s siege has led to the collapse of Gaza’s health system, particularly in the north, where hospitals are no longer functioning. The World Health Organization said more people in Gaza could soon die from disease than from bombings, and many would have no access to medicine, vaccines, clean water and hygiene, or food.
More than two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have lost their homes to Israeli bombing, and thousands of families are sleeping in makeshift shelters with only the belongings they can carry. They are desperately lacking food, fuel and clean water.
“We have a dramatic humanitarian situation. At the same time, we want the full release of all hostages, which we believe should be unconditional and immediate. But we need a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Tuesday.
The temporary ceasefire has allowed about 800 aid trucks to enter Gaza, and the first of three U.S. planes carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza landed in Egypt on Tuesday.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths traveled to the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday to discuss opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid from Israel to enter the Gaza Strip.
The Kerem Shalom border crossing lies at the interface between Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt and transported more than 60% of the aid that entered Gaza before the current conflict.
Aid to Gaza is now coming through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, which is designed for pedestrian crossings, not trucks.
Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Mohammed Salem and Roleen Tafakji in Gaza, Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Steve Holland in the offices of Air Force One and Portal; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Lincoln Feast.
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