Four Thais were released late on Wednesday after two on Tuesday, having spent seven weeks in captivity
Thailand’s foreign minister has met Thai hostages in an emotional welcome after their release by Hamas from seven weeks of captivity, saying he hoped for freedom soon for the remaining hostages from his country.
Four Thai workers were released late on Wednesday, bringing the total released to 23.
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Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries have said in a joint statement that they support the further extension of the truce and future pauses in order to increase assistance and facilitate the release of all hostages.
The group urged Hamas to release all the hostages “immediately and unconditionally”.
Continue reading...Tamimi, 22, on list released by justice ministry as ceasefire deal with Hamas extended for another two days
Another 50 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails have been put forward as candidates for release after the hostage swap and ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip was extended for another two days – including the high-profile activist Ahed Tamimi.
Tamimi, 22, was on the list released by Israel’s justice ministry on Tuesday. The writer, part of a prominent family from the West Bank village of Nabi Salih, has been a symbol of resistance against the Israeli occupation for protest action and confronting Israeli soldiers since she was about 11 years old.
Continue reading...Recently released Eitan Yahalomi, 12, suffered ‘horrors’ at the hands of militant Palestinian group, according to family member
A 12-year-old boy who was held hostage in Gaza for 52 days was forced in captivity to watch videos of the 7 October atrocities, his aunt has claimed.
Eitan Yahalomi, a French-Israeli national, was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz with his father, Ohad Yahalomi, who remains captive.
Continue reading...Israel says Palestinians have been freed after nine women, a child and two foreign nationals were handed to the Red Cross
Another batch of 10 Israeli hostages are expected to be released by Hamas today, in line with the extension of the ceasefire. The Guardian has been keeping track of those released so far here:
A London surgeon has described witnessing a “massacre unfold” during 43 days spent under bombardment in Gaza, saying the destruction of the Palestinian health system was a military objective of the war.
Continue reading...Chile has the largest Palestinian diaspora outside the Middle East – and it is lending its considerable weight to the call for justice
Above canvas awnings along the narrow streets in Patronato, a busy commercial district in Chile’s capital, Palestinian flags hang from lampposts and frame warehouse doors.
Bakeries sell baklava, pita and falafel; and shelves are stacked with products imported from the Middle East, their ingredients hastily covered over with Spanish approximations.
Continue reading...Celebrations as Hamas releases 11 hostages from Gaza in exchange for 33 Palestinians in Israeli jails as truce extended by two days
Eleven more Israeli hostages have been freed from Gaza in return for dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, as the two sides agreed to extend the existing ceasefire by two days.
Hamas released the hostages – nine children and two women – late on Monday, with all of them from the Nir Oz kibbutz, according to officials from the community. A further release in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails is scheduled to take place later on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Activists including Cynthia Nixon say they are launching five-day fast ‘to showcase the actions of President Biden’
Leftwing activists including the actor Cynthia Nixon, famous for her role in Sex and the City, have begun a hunger strike outside the White House aimed at pressing Joe Biden into demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The five-day fast was launched to coincide with what had been the scheduled end of a four-day truce in Israel’s military offensive into the Palestinian coastal territory, during which the Palestinian group Hamas released dozens of hostages. Israel has also released several batches of Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and minors. The truce was later extended by a further two days following mediation from Egypt and Qatar.
Continue reading...Concern voiced over deeper humanitarian crisis that may follow if Israel resumes attack on Hamas
Aid agencies have welcomed the two-day extension of the truce in Gaza but voiced concern that the anticipated resumption of Israel’s attack on Hamas would lead to an even deeper humanitarian crisis among Palestinians.
Save the Children said it would try to continue to provide what it described as basic relief aid – bottled water, food and essential medicines – some of which it had been able to help deliver during the first four days of the truce.
Continue reading...Palestinian group says it has agreed to continuation of truce with same conditions, but Israel has not commented
A deal to extend the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by two days has been agreed after a frantic dash by mediators with just over 12 hours remaining before hostilities in Gaza were due to resume.
Hamas said it had agreed to the extension of the four-day truce by 48 hours after the intervention of Qatar and Egypt, the principal mediators for the initial agreement, and with the same conditions.
Continue reading...Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah claims destruction of Palestinian health system was an Israeli objective
A London surgeon has described witnessing a “massacre unfold” during 43 days spent under bombardment in Gaza, saying the destruction of the Palestinian health system was a military objective of the war.
Speaking at a press conference in London, Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who will later give evidence to Scotland Yard, told of horrific scenes at al-Ahli Arab and Dar al-Shifa hospitals as they ceased to function and said he witnessed the use of white phosphorus munitions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied using such weapons.
Continue reading...Pair speak about Gaza conflict but not online antisemitism nor controversial post made by X owner this month
Elon Musk has joined the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in visiting a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas on 7 October, after criticism of his endorsement of an antisemitic post on X.
The owner of X, the site formerly known as Twitter, has been criticised for supporting a post on his platform that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. High-profile advertisers have also suspended spending on the site after a report that ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi content.
Continue reading...Nofuz Hammad, 16, was on the list of those to be freed, but when her father went to meet her, she did not emerge
Palestinian families, as well as Israelis, have been celebrating reunions, as loved ones held in Israeli prisons return home under the ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But for the Hammad family, from occupied East Jerusalem, this week has brought more questions than answers – and more worry than joy.
Their daughter, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, was on the list of imprisoned women and children to be released on Saturday, the second day of an agreed four-day truce. Only one member of each family was allowed to go to collect the detainees, some of whom, including Nofuz, were supposed to be released at the notorious West Jerusalem detention and interrogation facility known as the Russian Compound.
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Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from Khan Younis inside Gaza, says that people there consider it “an incomplete and unfair truce” as they are being forbidden from travelling from the south back to their homes and families in the north.
He says Palestinians are “taking this opportunity to secure necessities such as food and water. It’s also an opportunity to grieve properly and to hold proper funerals”.
Continue reading...Israel frees more prisoners in exchange but insists its military campaign in Gaza is far from over
The third exchange of hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel has taken place as the US expressed hope that a fragile four-day truce in Gaza would be extended beyond Monday, while Israel indicated its campaign was far from over.
Israel said 17 hostages were released by Hamas, including a Russian national and three Thai nationals. The Israelis were all women or children. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners, also women and children, were freed from Israeli jails, authorities said.
Continue reading...Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’
The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.
Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.
Continue reading...Many expect pause to be extended if more hostages are released, but experts predict military campaign could run into next year
Gaza’s truce is unlikely to last significantly beyond Tuesday, with Israel’s military stepping up pressure on Sunday to restart the air and ground offensive in a campaign that some experts predict could run into next year.
The four-day halt in fighting, described by the Israel DefenceForces (IDF) as “an operational pause”, is scheduled to end on 7am on Tuesday if the agreed transfer of 50 hostages held by Hamas and others in Gaza goes to plan.
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Israel’s military has issued a statement about its activity in Jenin in the occupied West Bank overnight. In a post to social media, it said:
In the operation commanded by the 646th Reserve Brigade, five terrorists were eliminated, 21 wanted persons were arrested, a cargo laboratory was destroyed and an aircraft attacked from the air an armed terrorist squad that endangered the IDF forces.
Continue reading...People trying to escape Israeli bombardment have to cope without the most basic life necessities
Dogs biting at a human corpse. An exhausted, heavily pregnant woman carrying a toddler on her back. A seemingly lifeless body pushed on a cart. The sights of the Salah al-Din road, the main highway that runs like a spine through Gaza, remain with those who’ve walked it.
“What we experienced cannot be seen in horror movies,” said Nahla from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
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