Live blog: Mediator Qatar says Israel-Hamas truce to start at 7 am on Friday

Thursday, November 23, 2023

1430 GMT — A humanitarian pause in Gaza will start at 7 am local time (0500GMT) on Friday, Qatar has announced.

“The first group of civilian hostages will be swapped at around 4 pm on Friday,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha.

He said 50 hostages will be released in four days.

​​​​​​“The first group of hostages will include 13 women and children,” he added.

Read more about the truce here

More updates 👇

1841 GMT — 27 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on UN school in Gaza: doctor

A Palestinian doctor has said at least 27 people had been killed and 93 more injured in an Israeli strike on a United Nations school in Gaza.

The strike hit a UN-run school where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza, the doctor at a hospital in the camp said on condition of anonymity.

1841 GMT — 12-year-old killed by Israeli fire in occupied West Bank, death toll rises to 229

A Palestinian minor has died in the West Bank, taking the death toll from Israeli army attacks in the occupied territory to 229 since October 7, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said a 12-year-old boy succumbed to injuries he sustained earlier from Israeli army fire in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.

At least 229 Palestinians have since been killed and over 2,800 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

1806 GMT — Four Israeli soldiers killed in missile attack: Lebanon’s Hezbollah

Lebanese group Hezbollah has claimed to have killed four Israeli soldiers in a missile attack in northern Israel.

Guided missiles were fired at Israeli soldiers inside a house in Al Manara settlement, the group said in a statement.

Israel said earlier on Thursday that about 50 projectiles were fired at towns in Upper Galilee from Lebanon, in the largest bombardment in northern Israel.

1728 GMT — Gaza war death toll nears 15,000: health ministry

Authorities in Gaza have said the death toll in the Palestinian territory had reached 14,854 since October 7.

The Hamas government said 6,150 children and 4,000 women were among the dead, with another 36,000 people wounded.

Its health ministry has previously said it can no longer give exact tolls as intense fighting has prevented bodies from being recovered.

1304 GMT — Israel-Hamas deal must start 'without further delay': France

France has said an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of 50 hostages in exchange for a humanitarian truce should go ahead "without further delay".

Paris is also urging "the immediate release of all hostages", said Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry. "We call for the terms of this agreement to be fully respected," she added.

Israel has made a truce deal with Hamas but it says no hostages are expected to be released until at least Friday.

1225 GMT — Israeli army intensifies air strikes in Gaza ahead of truce

The Israeli army has announced that it conducted air strikes on 300 locations in Gaza over the past 24 hours, right before an expected humanitarian pause is set to take effect in the coming hours.

In a statement, the army said the targets were "affiliated with Hamas," referring to the Palestinian resistance group based in the enclave, and were attacked "from the air".

They said the locations included "operational command headquarters, underground combat tunnels, military warehouses, and sites for producing weaponry and launching anti-tank missiles," according to the statement.

Israel's Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi told military leaders inside Gaza on Thursday, "we aren't stopping the war. Instead, we will continue until victory and advance forward," according to the statement.

The Israeli claims cannot be independently verified. Hamas typically asserts that Israeli attacks target civilians.

Palestinian civilians have borne the brunt of Israel’s weeks-long military campaign, as Israel dropped bombs in Gaza, hitting schools, mosques and hospitals.

The number of people killed in Israeli air and ground attacks on Gaza since October 7 has reached more than 14,000, including children and women, the media office in the besieged enclave said Wednesday.

1155 GMT —108 staffers killed since start of Gaza hostilities: UNRWA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said 108 of its staffers have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since the start of hostilities on October 7.

"This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history" of the organization, the agency said in a statement late Wednesday.

1131 GMT — Health Ministry in Gaza halts full coordination with WHO in hospital evacuation

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has decided to stop coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the evacuation of hospitals in the besieged enclave.

The move came to object the detention of a number of medical staff of Al Shifa Hospital during the evacuation process that is taking place in coordination with the WHO.

“We decided to stop full coordination with the World Health Organization on the issue of evacuating the wounded and medical teams until a report is submitted on what happened with the occupation army arresting medical teams,” Ashraf Al Qudra, the ministry’s spokesperson, told reporters in Khan Younis.

1113 GMT — ‘All civilians must be protected at all costs’: Spain’s premier to Israeli president

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for an urgent end to the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

“All civilians must be protected at all costs,” Sanchez told the Israeli president. “Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza immediately".

In his first meeting on his tour to Israel, Palestine and Egypt, Sanchez told Herzog that he believes Israel has the "right to defend itself", but that it must comply with international humanitarian law.

“The response cannot imply the death of innocent civilians in Gaza, including thousands of children,” Sanchez was filmed saying to Herzog in a public conversation.

He added that once the conflict comes to an end, Palestinian authorities should take control of Gaza as opposed to an Israeli occupation.

0831 GMT — Israeli army demands evacuation of Indonesian Hospital in Gaza within 4 hours

The Israeli army has called for the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza within four hours, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said.

The Israeli army wants to enter the hospital for "military operations" and has demanded its evacuation within four hours, Health Ministry Director General Dr Munir Al Borsh told Al Jazeera.

Al Borsh said that the Indonesian Hospital has been besieged by the Israeli army and continued strikes are taking place in its vicinity.

Noting that there are currently about 200 people in the hospital, the official said that 450 patients left the hospital on Wednesday. There are 65 bodies in the hospital that could not be buried, and 50 of them have been waiting in the hospital garden for more than 10 days, he added.

0727 GMT — Hardline Israeli minister threatens to quit government if Gaza fighting stops

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign from the government if fighting does not resume following the end of the four-day humanitarian pause announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ben-Gvir made the statement to Channel 14, commenting on the Israeli government's approval of the humanitarian pause, which he rejected.

He said he heard from Netanyahu that fighting would resume after the four-day pause, but if fighting ceased, "we will have nothing to do in this government."

0722 GMT — Gaza humanitarian pause deal 'a step in right direction', says Malaysia

Malaysia welcomed the new deal between Israel and Hamas for a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting in Gaza, calling it a "step in the right direction".

Hailing the role played by Qatar, Egypt and the US in reaching the deal between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said the step would "bring to an end the killing of civilians and minimise the suffering of the people in Gaza."

It, however, called on "concerned parties to intensify efforts for a permanent cessation of hostilities."

0706 GMT — Netanyahu threatens to kill Hamas leaders 'wherever they are'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the country's intelligence agency, Mossad, to target Hamas leaders everywhere.

In response to a question about whether top Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal, would be able to control Gaza after the war, Netanyahu said at a press conference in Tel Aviv that he has instructed the Mossad "to act against the Hamas leaders wherever they are."

To another question about whether the upcoming humanitarian pause would include Israeli military action against Hamas abroad, Netanyahu said there is "no such obligation."

0701 GMT — Ceasefire delayed over 'last minute' hostage list details: Palestinian official

A Palestinian official said a delay in implementation of a truce in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas was due to "last minute" details over which hostages would be released and how.

The truce, widely expected to go into force on Thursday but delayed during the night, had been put back over "the names of the Israeli hostages and the modalities of their release", said the official, who has knowledge of the negotiation process.

Lists of those to be freed had been exchanged by both sides, the official added. Questions were also being raised over Red Cross access to the hostages before they would be released into Egypt, the official said, and whether the Red Cross would have access to those who remained.

0651 GMT — Israeli forces arrest Al Shifa director, several medical personnel: hospital staff

A doctor at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that the facility's director and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces.

"Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors," said Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the hospital which has been a major focus of the controversial Israeli operation.

0638 GMT — Talks on details of humanitarian pause in Gaza going well: Qatar

Qatar said that talks with Egypt on the details of the humanitarian pause in Gaza are going well.

Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on X that an announcement on the start time of the pause is expected in the coming hours.

He stressed that work is underway with Israel and Hamas, as well as Egypt and the US, to ensure a swift start to the pause and to provide the required support to guarantee commitment from both sides to the deal.

0500 GMT — UN says 22 healthcare workers killed in Gaza amid Israeli war

The United Nations said that 22 healthcare workers have been killed across Gaza since the war began on October 7.

"Since the start of the war, the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 178 health attacks in the Gaza Strip that resulted in 22 fatalities and 48 injuries among healthcare workers on duty," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a press briefing.

He said that currently, nearly 770,000 internally displaced persons out of 1.7 million are sheltering in 99 UNRWA facilities in the southern part of Gaza.

0422 GMT — Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza ahead of humanitarian pause

Israel intensified its attacks across Gaza shortly before a humanitarian pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters was set to take effect.

The Israeli army struck several areas across the besieged enclave, particularly in the northern parts, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

It said a number of people were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes on residential homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

0257 GMT — Anadolu photographer loses 47 members of his extended family in Israeli air strike

Anadolu freelance photographer Montaser Al Sawwaf recounted how he was wounded in an Israeli air strike on the Al Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City which also killed 47 members of his extended family, with others still under the rubble.

"Last Friday night, Israeli warplanes raided my family's home and destroyed it completely while my family was inside," Montaser said.

"The bombardment caused the martyrdom of my parents, two of my brothers, a number of their children and other cousins," he added. "As for me, I sustained a moderate injury to my face."

0238 GMT — Israel-Hamas hostage agreement 'progress toward lasting peace': Trudeau

The return of Israeli hostages and the temporary suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas are steps toward eventual peace, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

"This is an important bit of progress, but we have to redouble our efforts now to get toward a lasting peace," Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Under the humanitarian pause and hostage deal brokered with the help of Egypt, Qatar and the US, 50 hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas will be released over four days, with Israel handing over 150 Palestinians.

0334 GMT — US intercepts multiple attack drones launched from Yemen: Pentagon

The United States has intercepted multiple attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, the Central Command said.

"The drones were shot down while the U.S. warship was on patrol in the Red Sea," CENTCOM said on X, formerly Twitter.

"The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury."

0058 GMT — Turkish foreign minister presses for cease-fire in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, diplomatic sources said.

Fidan visited London and Paris with his counterparts from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League as part of efforts to stop the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace.

He said countries with influence over Israel should press for peace.

0038 GMT — French, Israeli defence chiefs discuss Israel-Hamas hostage swap

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant held talks on the humanitarian pause agreement for a hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas.

During a phone call with Gallant, Lecornu said his country will continue efforts for all the hostages to be released.

Lecornu also welcomed the humanitarian pause agreement for the hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.

2230 GMT — Israel says no release of captives before Friday

Israel's national security adviser has said that no captives held by Hamas resistance group in besieged Gaza would be released before Friday despite the two sides agreeing on a truce. One senior official told the AFP news agency that fighting in Gaza will continue until Friday.

"The contacts on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly," National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement. "The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday."

There will be no halt to war in Gaza "before Friday", an Israeli official said early on Thursday. There will be "no pause" in the fighting, the source said, delaying a widely anticipated lull which had been expected to start at 10:00 am local time, according to another Israeli source.

2207 GMT — US won't allow expulsion of Palestinians

US President Joe Biden has told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in a phone call that the US would not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from besieged Gaza or the occupied West Bank, the White House said in a statement.

It added that the US is also against the besiegement or redrawing of Gaza's borders.

"The President affirmed his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state and recognised Egypt's essential role in setting the conditions for that outcome," the White House said.

2205 GMT — Israel 'kills' son of senior Hezbollah lawmaker

The son of a senior Hezbollah lawmaker has been killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon, a source close to the family told the AFP news agency.

Abbas Raad, son of the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad, "was killed with a number of other Hezbollah members" in an Israeli strike on a house in Beit Yahun, the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said that "an air strike launched by the Israeli enemy ... on a house in Beit Yahun killed four people" and wounded others. Hezbollah later said the Israeli strike on a home in Yahun village killed five of its fighters, including son of senior Hezbollah lawmaker.

For our live updates from Wednesday (November 22), click here.