The second exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners is suspended. Hamas announced late Saturday, November 25, that it would suspend the release of new hostages “until Israel respects the agreement reached between the two parties.” In a press release, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement, specifically calls for “the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the north of the Gaza Strip” and compliance with the “selection criteria” for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli officials confirmed to AFP that the hostages, who were due to be released on Saturday, had not yet been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as previously planned. Follow our live stream.
An exchange identical to that of Friday. “We are talking about 13 hostages” against 39 Palestinian prisoners “who will be released from Israeli prisons,” he announced in the afternoon BFMTV Olivier Rafowicz, spokesman for the Israeli army. “But we always have to be a little careful because there can be short-term changes,” he also said.
Some 215 hostages are still being held in Gaza. The first twenty-four hostages, including ten Thais and one Filipino, released outside the agreement between the two belligerents, entered Israel via Egypt. The Jewish state, for its part, released 39 Palestinians imprisoned in its prisons. “There are about 215 hostages still in Gaza,” Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman said before the release on Saturday. “In many cases we don’t know whether they are dead or alive,” he added.
Humanitarian aid was able to reach the enclave. This ceasefire, which will last until 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, will also allow a larger number of humanitarian aid convoys to enter the Gaza Strip, which has been “completely besieged” since October 9th. Eight trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. These are four fuel tankers and four cooking gas trucks, explains a spokesman for the Israeli army. At. This spokesman confirms that “200 aid trucks” are expected in the Gaza Strip today.
Suspected Iranian attack on Israeli ship. An Israeli businessman’s ship was slightly damaged in a suspected Iranian attack in the Indian Ocean on Friday. “We are aware of reports that a Shahed-136 drone struck a ship in the Indian Ocean,” a U.S. military official said, adding that the ship suffered minor damage but there was no damage. There were no injuries on board. The Shahed 136 drone is part of the Iranian armed forces’ arsenal, which appears to support the theory of an attack on Tehran.