According to the Qatari-mediated agreement, Hamas would release 50 Israeli captives in exchange for 150 Palestinian children and women prisoners. Meanwhile, Israel airstrikes on Gaza Strip continue, killing at least 200 people overnight.
Casualties
- 14,100 killed*, including 5,840 children, and 32,850 wounded in Gaza Strip.
- 225 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200
*This figure covers the casualties from October 7 to November 22. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls.
Key Developments
- Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that “the starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours and last for four days, subject to extension.
- The pause will add an additional day for every ten more Israeli captives Hamas releases, Kan News reported.
- Hamas agreed to release 30 children and 20 women captives, who will be handed to the Red Cross and then transferred to Israel, Kan News reported.
- A list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners were handed to the Israeli government, including women and prisoners who were children at the time of their arrest, Kan News said.
- Hamas revealed details of the agreement, saying that it agreed on a temporary ceasefire in which Israeli forces would halt military action and allow medical, fuel, and aid trucks to reach all areas of the Gaza Strip.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said prior to the vote on the truce: “We are at war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals.”
- Israeli tanks are still besieging the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia for the third consecutive day, and sent a WhatsApp threat message to the management of an imminent raid of the facility.
- Human Rights Watch: Israel has killed more Palestinians in the West Bank in the last six weeks than in any full year since at least 2005, and put more Palestinians in administrative detention without charges or trial or charges than in over 30 years.
- The parliament in South Africa voted in favour of a motion to sever ties with Israel and shut down Tel Aviv embassy in Johannesburg till a permanent ceasefire in Gaza Strip reached.
Israel and Hamas have reached a deal allowing a four-day pause in the fighting and the release of 50 women and children hostages in Gaza, marking the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war broke out on Oct.7. The deal was brokered by Qatar and will also allow the entry of “a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid.” No start time of the fighting pause has been announced yet, but this will be confirmed in the next 24 hours, according to a Qatar government statement. Qatar’s lead negotiator Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi said the international community should “seize this brief window of opportunity to generate further momentum for the diplomatic track.” Simone McCarthy, Rob Picheta, and David Shortell report for CNN.
Israel released a statement saying “the release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause,” adding that “the government of Israel, the IDF and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.” BBC News reports.
One hundred and fifty women and children Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will be released as part of the hostage deal with Israel. An IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the full list of the relevant prisoners will be released and that these individuals were not involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, unlike previous hostage release details. “What I know is that the Palestinians that are being freed from prisons are not at all that caliber of terrorists that we were talking about before, not serious offenders,” Conricus said. Kareem El Damanhoury reports for CNN.
A senior U.S. official said they expect at least three American citizens – including a three-year old child – to be released as part of the hostage deal. The official said the child will turn four on Friday and that both her parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. Matt Murphy reports for BBC News.
Israeli troops have exposed and destroyed approximately 400 Hamas tunnel shafts since the start of the conflict, many of which were located within civilian hospitals, homes, and schools, according to the IDF. BBC News reports.
Four people including three doctors were killed when a hospital was struck amid intense fighting yesterday in the Jabalia refugee camp, according to the hospital director of Al-Awda hospital, who blamed the strike on Israel. The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders confirmed that two of the doctors who were killed worked for their group. AP News reports.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society confirmed in a post on X that 14 ambulances arrived at Al-Shifa hospital today to evacuate patients.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
Egypt’s Prime Minister said yesterday that Egypt will take “all measures” to prevent Palestinians from crossing into Egypt. Mostafa Madbouly said in a speech in Parliament that “Egypt will not hesitate in taking all measures that guarantees the protection of its borders.” Since the conflict began, Egypt has continually dismissed suggestions it would become a host nation for displaced Palestinians. However, the Rafah border crossing has seen thousands of dual nationals and injured Palestinains enter Egypt during the past few weeks. AP News reports.
Four people including two journalists were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon yesterday. The Israeli military said it “operated against a threat posed from a launching area of the Hezbollah terrorist organization” in the area, and that it was reviewing the incident. The IDF added that presence in the area is “dangerous” where there are “active hostilities.” Lipika Pelham reports for BBC News.
Turkey will not allow the issue of Israel’s nuclear weapons to be dropped from global discussion, President Tayyip Erdogan said this week, adding that the West has a “fraternity of lies” with Israel. Erdogan said that European states were attempting to “vindicate” Israel’s war crimes. Tuvan Gumrukcu reports for Reuters.
Turkish President Erodgan said today that Ankara “cannot and will not tolerate” Israel’s policies of “depopulating” the Gaza Strip, pledging that Israel “will not commit similar brutality again.” Ruxandra Lordache reports for CNBC News.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged countries to stop arms supply to Israel and condemned the “brutal crimes against the destruction of infrastructure, including health facilities and places of worship in Gaza.” Speaking at a BRICS economic coalition, he said all countries should “embark on an effort, in the name of all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League, to reach an international stance regarding the aggression on Gaza.” Ruxandra Iordache reports for CNBC News.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Almost 1.7 million people have been displaced across the Gaza strip since Oct. 7, and nearly 930,00 internally displaced persons are now sheltering in U.N. facilities across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said today. The organization said “85 incidents have impacted 67 UNRWA installations” since the war broke out, and at least 176 people have been killed who were sheltering in UNRWA premises.
Twenty three pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at a port in Sydney, Australian police said in a statement today. The police said around 400 people gathered and blocked a road near Port Botany yesterday for an unauthorized protest, adding that those who failed to comply with an order to disperse were arrested and charged with offenses including damage or disruption to a major facility. The Palestine Justice Movement Sydney organized the protest and said they sought to prevent the unloading of a ship belonging to an Israeli-owned international shipping line, adding that their “peaceful, nonviolent boycott campaigns and protests will continue.” Samra Zulfaqar reports for NBC News.
The E.U. confirmed yesterday that it will continue to send aid to Palestinians after a review by the European Commission “found no indications of EU money having directly or indirectly benefited the terrorist organization Hamas.” Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said funds directed to Gaza projects which are not feasible due to the war will be “relegated to Gaza either as humanitarian aid or development aid,” Dombrovsksi added. The E.U. is the largest international aid donor to the Pleatsinians. Laura Hülsemann reports for POLITICO.
US RESPONSE
President Biden thanked the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for their “critical leadership and partnership in reaching” the hostage deal, in a statement released yesterday. Biden also said he “appreciate[d] the commitment that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have made in supporting an extended pause to ensure this deal can be fully carried out and to ensure the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza.”
The Biden administration has been providing Israel with data on the location of humanitarian aid groups in Gaza in attempts to prevent strikes against their facilities, according to three people familiar with the communications. They said that information including GPS coordinates of medical facilities and information of aid group movements has been supplied to the Israeli government for at least one month. Erin Banco and Nahal Toosi report for POLITICO.
A senior U.S. official said they expect at least three American citizens – including a three-year old child – to be released as part of the hostage deal. The official said the child will turn four on Friday and that both her parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. Matt Murphy reports for BBC News.
Gaza Ceasefire Could Last for Weeks
World leaders hailed the deal, describing it as a sign of progress. Hamas will release the hostages over four days, during which fighting will be paused, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday. Israel offered to extend the truce by one day for every 10 hostages released. Women and children will be freed first. Israel said the war will continue after the ceasefire ends, reaffirming its commitment to “eliminate Hamas.”
Israel and Hamas Agree to Cease-Fire in Exchange for Hostage Releas
John Whitbeck comments; As everyone now knows, and as is reported in the NEW YORK TIMES article “Israel and Hamas Agree to Cease-Fire in Exchange for Hostage Release”
, an agreement for an exchange of women and minor-aged prisoners during a four-day “humanitarian pause” has been announced.
If this prisoner swap is completed, which is far from certain, it will clearly be good news for those released on both sides and for their families.
However, in the big picture, it should be irrelevant except for the explicit confirmations of Israel’s intentions which have accompanied Israel’s announcement of the deal.
As noted in the TIMES article, Israeli officials have stated clearly that “civilians currently in southern Gaza will not be allowed to return to the north.” This is consistent with an Israeli intention to first permanently ethnically cleanse the portion of the Gaza Strip north of the Wadi Gaza before moving on to repeat the ethnic cleansing process in the south.
In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated clearly last night: “We are at war, and we’ll continue this war until we meet all our objectives: dismantling Hamas, returning our hostages and ensuring that in Gaza there will be no one that threatens Israel.”
Since it is obvious that, so long as there is occupation, there will be resistance to occupation, the only conceivable way to ensure that “in Gaza there will be no one that threatens Israel” is to exterminate, expel or “evacuate” the entire Palestinian population of the Strip.
While it is difficult to imagine a way, even if there were a will, to prevent the Israeli government from meeting all of its objectives, any hope, however slight, requires a prompt and realistic appreciation of what those objectives are.