The humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended by another two days, giving hope to the families of the hostages. Video / NZ Herald, AP News
Tonight’s hostage exchange is “underway” following a delay that was believed to centre around Hamas separating children from their mothers, according to the Daily Telegraph UK.
The exchange was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Israeli military, and a diplomatic source told CNN that the handover should take place within an hour.
Hamas has released the names of the Palestinians that Israel has agreed to release from its prisons in exchange for the hostages, which comprised 30 children and three women. The Israeli hostages are expected to be 11 of the people kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz.
The exchange will come after Hamas and Israel agreed to extend the temporary ceasefire for another two days to facilitate further releases on both sides.
“We are managing a deal through mediators around the clock. Nothing is final until it actually happens,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “Things are progressing, tonight as well, but patience is required.”
The Israelis released from Gaza include three French citizens, two German citizens, and six Argentinian citizens, according to Qatari foreign minister spokesman Dr Majed al Ansari.
The 11 Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity tonight: Sharon Aloni Cunio and her children Emma and Yuli, siblings Sahar and Erez Calderon,Karina Engel-Bart and her children Mika and Yuval, siblings Yagil and Or Yaakov, and Eitan Yahalomi. pic.twitter.com/dX1kFdoJi9
All of them are from the Nir Oz kibbutz. They have been handed over to the Red Cross and are on their way back into Israel. 30 Palestinians children and three women are set to be released from Israeli prisons in the coming hours in return.
Ceasefire extended
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their ceasefire for two more days past Monday, the Qatari government said, bringing the prospect of a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war and further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The announcement, made by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary in a post on X, came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides. A fourth swap of hostages for prisoners under that deal was expected later Monday. Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been the key mediator in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) November 27, 2023
Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the Qatari announcement, Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension “under the same terms”.
But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas’ military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its October 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crammed into United Nations shelters, and where dire conditions persist despite the increased delivery of aid under the truce.
Sharon Hertzman hugs her husband Hen Avigdori as they reunite at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. Hertzman and her daughter Noam, 12, were held hostages in Gaza for 50 days. Photo / AP
Israel will resume its operations with “full force” as soon as the current deal expires if Hamas does not agree to further hostage releases, with the goal of eliminating the group and freeing the rest of the captives, government spokesperson Eylon Levy told reporters on Monday.
So far, 58 hostages have been released during the current truce, including 39 Israelis. Before the truce, four hostages were freed, another rescued and two were found dead inside Gaza.
After weeks of national trauma over the around 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.
“We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing,” two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.
Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and the militants are likely to make much greater demands for their release.
Most hostages appeared to be physically well, but 84-year-old Elma Avraham was airlifted to Israel’s Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.
Avraham’s daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was “hours from death” when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her of a new great grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.
Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.
So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm labourers.
The Palestinian prisoners released were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offences. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.
The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.
Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.
The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that levelled entire neighbourhoods.
Footage showed a complex of several dozen multi-storey residential buildings that had been pummelled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby UN school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.
Palestinian woman Hiyam Qudih cooks in front of her family's building destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the village of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis on November 26. Photo / AP
The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gaza’s population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in UN shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.
Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.
Palestinians walk through Gaza City on November 26 on the third day of the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Photo / AP
Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.
“My clothes are all wet and I am unable to change them.” said Mansour, who is disabled. “I have not drunk water for two days, and there’s no bathroom to use.”
The UN says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.
Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the UN said.
Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities weren’t equipped to deal with the level of destruction.
Many say the aid is not nearly enough.
Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a UN distribution centre since the cease-fire began.
