Israel-Hamas war live: Ceasefire enters final 24 hours as Netanyahu faces pressure to extend deal – The Guardian

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry has released images of the three Thai nationals released on Sunday.

They are now at Shamir Medical Center, southeast of Tel Aviv, accompanied by Thai Embassy officials.

The ministry said it warmly congratulates the recently released hostages and their families and thanks everyone involved in the efforts to achieve this latest release.

For the remaining 15 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai Government continues to make every effort to ensure their safe release at the earliest opportunity, while preparing for the early repatriation of the 17 already released Thais to Thailand after preliminary checks as possible.

Here’s more about the four-year-old Israeli-American girl released by Hamas on Sunday – she was captured on October 7 after her parents were killed during the militant storming of southern Israel, according to the US president Joe Biden said.

Abigail Edanwho lived to be four years old in captivity, was the third person with U.S. citizenship released by Hamas during the seven-week war with Israel, Portal reports.

Relatives told US CBS News last week that if the toddler was released, he would be placed with family members in Israel who had already taken in her two older siblings.

Biden said what the toddler suffered was “unthinkable.”

“We hoped and prayed that today would come” Liz Hirsh Naftali And Noa Naftali, Edan’s great-aunt and cousin said in a statement after her release that they thanked Biden and the Qatari government for their work in securing it.

There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail is safe and coming home.

Biden spoke with members of the American-Israeli dual citizen’s family in the United States and Israel after her release, the White House said.

Our previous story on Abigail’s release can be viewed here.

Updated at 06:15 GMT

The ceasefire enters its final day as Israel faces pressure to extend the deal

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours on Monday. The militant group agreed to extend the pause after releasing more hostages, including a four-year-old orphaned in the attack.

During the break that began on Friday, dozens of hostages were released, in return for which more than 100 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel.

Agence France-Presse also reports that attention is now turning to whether the ceasefire will be extended before its scheduled end early Tuesday morning.

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday:

That is my goal, that is our goal: to maintain this pause beyond tomorrow so that more hostages continue to be released and more humanitarian assistance is provided to those in need in Gaza.

He said he wanted a pause in the fighting “as long as prisoners continue to come out.”

Hamas has signaled its willingness to extend the ceasefire. A source told AFP the group had told mediators it was open to an extension of “two to four days”.

Israel is under enormous pressure from the families of the hostages and its allies to extend the ceasefire to secure further releases. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had spoken to Biden and would welcome an extension of the temporary ceasefire if it meant 10 prisoners would be released each additional day.

Under the ceasefire, 50 hostages held by the militants were to be released within four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. A built-in mechanism extends the deadline if at least 10 Israeli prisoners are released each additional day

The third group of hostages released Sunday included a four-year-old American citizen named Abigail, whose parents were both murdered in the Hamas attacks.

Updated at 05:31 GMT

Opening summary

Welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a snapshot of the key developments:

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours on Monday. The militant group agreed to extend the pause, while US President Joe Biden said he hoped it could last as long as hostages were released.

Hamas released 17 more people on Sunday in the third hostage and prisoner exchange under the four-day ceasefire agreement that began on Friday, while Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel is under enormous pressure from the families of the hostages and its allies to extend the ceasefire to secure further releases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting an Israeli prime minister in Gaza on Sunday for the first time since 2005, said he had spoken with Biden and would welcome an extension of the ceasefire if it meant 10 prisoners would be released each additional day.

But Netanyahu said he also told the US president that when the ceasefire ends, “we will return with full force to achieve our goals” of eliminating Hamas and securing the release of the remaining hostages.

More on this story shortly. In other news as it turns 7 a.m. in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:

• The 17 hostages Hamas freed on Sunday included a four-year-old Israeli-American girl, three Thai nationals and a Russian national, and all Israelis were women or children, Israel said. According to prison authorities, 39 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, were released from Israeli prisons

• The releases bring the total number of hostages released to 63 of about 240 brought to Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack, Agence France-Presse reports Israel has released 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on three days since Friday.

• One hundred and twenty aid trucks drove from Egypt to Gaza on Sunday, including two tank trucks and two with cooking gas, said the head of Egypt’s state information service. “The ceasefire is without roadblocks,” said Diaa Rashwan.

• Benjamin Netanyahu said in a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Sunday that Israel would resume its military operations in Gaza in full force after the four-day ceasefire expiresPortal has reported. However, the Israeli prime minister also said he welcomed the possibility of ten hostages being released for each additional day of the ceasefire.

• Hamas said on Sunday it wanted to extend the ceasefire with Israel Serious efforts should be made to increase the number of Palestinian prisoners released from Israel.

• A U.S. Navy warship responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden that had been hijacked by armed individuals and was now safe and at large, US officials say. The tanker carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid was identified by the shipping company as “Central Park”. Officials did not identify the attackers. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

• Hamas announced that four senior commanders were killed, including Ahmed al-Ghandour, a commander in northern Gaza. Ghandour – whose nom de guerre was Abu Anas – was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US in 2017.

• A Palestinian farmer was killed and another injured on Sunday after he was attacked by Israeli forces in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported.

• The Israeli military said it killed five Palestinians and arrested 21 in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank overnight on Saturday. Funerals for those killed were held on Sunday. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said three more people had been killed in different areas of the West Bank since Saturday morning.

• The current level of aid in the Gaza Strip “is hardly sufficient for humanitarian aid if we want to reverse the effects of the siege on Gaza,” said the head of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Philippe Lazzarini told Face the Nation on US CBS channel Face the Nation on Sunday that much more aid was needed than was worth the 160 to 200 trucks transported to Gaza daily in recent days.

• Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk will meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, along with Israelis whose relatives were being held by Hamas in Gaza. Herzog’s office announced the meeting on Sunday evening, saying: “In their meeting, the President will emphasize the need to take action to combat rising anti-Semitism online.” Musk, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, has been accused by civil rights groups to stir up anti-Jewish hatred on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said the billionaire would also meet Benjamin Netanyahu during the visit.

• The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s Taoiseach of Leo Varadkar, who legitimized terror and lost his moral compass by saying a released Irish-Israeli hostage was “lost” and not kidnapped.

• Three students believed to be of Palestinian descent were shot dead and wounded in the US city of Burlington, Vermont, on their way to a family dinner on Saturday evening.

• Tens of thousands of people, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, gathered in London on Sunday for a march against anti-Semitism, a day after large crowds turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally. Johnson was joined by Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and other senior government officials at the march, which organizers described as the largest rally against anti-Semitism in London in nearly a century. Police present at the march arrested Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known by his pseudonym Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the far-right English Defense League.