Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Qatar says hostage release to start at 7 AM on Friday

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari said that the pause will begin at 7:00 AM on Friday and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00 PM.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari said on Thursday that hostage release will start on Friday morning.

The complex and carefully choreographed deal saw Israel and Hamas agree to a four-day truce, during which at least 50 hostages taken in the Palestinian militant group's deadly October 7 attacks would be released. For every 10 additional hostages released, there would be an extra day's "pause" in fighting, an Israeli government document said.

In turn, Israel would release at least 150 Palestinian women and children and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal territory after weeks of bombardment and heavy fighting.

The Israeli government said that under an outline of the deal, Hamas will free over a four-day period at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages taken in its Oct 7 attack on Israel, and Israel will release some Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

Egypt helped mediate the cease-fire agreement, which would bring the first respite to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities.

Egyptian state media had earlier said the truce would begin Thursday morning. But, it was not immediately clear what caused the delay in the deal that resulted from weeks of talks involving Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday he told US President Joe Biden that he will press ahead with the war after a cease-fire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.

"We are winning and will continue to fight until absolute victory," he said on Wednesday, vowing to secure Israel from threats emanating from Gaza and Lebanon, home to Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

UPDATES FROM DAY 48 OF THE WAR

Palestinian doctor says 27 dead in Israeli strike on UN school in Gaza

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

The strike hit a UN-run school where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas government says Gaza war death toll nears 15,000

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

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed building of Muharib family killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (Photo | AP)

Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Gaza City, during the ongoing Israeli bombardment on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (Photo | AP)

Israel says in contact with hostage families after receiving list of names

The Israeli prime minister's office said Thursday that authorities were in contact with the families of all the hostages being held in Gaza after receiving "a first list of names".

BREAKING: Qatar says Gaza ceasefire, hostage release to start at 7 AM on Friday

A Gaza truce and hostage release will start on Friday morning, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said.

"The pause will begin at 7:00 am on Friday ... and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00 pm on the same day," Majed Al-Ansari said Thursday, adding that the number of people freed will be thirteen.

READ FULL STORY

Shots fired at aid workers in Gaza

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross has told Al Jazeera that its staff were fired upon while trying to deliver humanitarian support in northern Gaza

IDF releases statement on the detention of Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa hospital

IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari posted the following thread on X

Al-Shifa's director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday.

The director of the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip was apprehended and transferred for ISA questioning following evidence showing that the Shifa Hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control center >>

— ???? ???? ????? ???? - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 23, 2023

Iran's Foreign Minister meets Hezbollah chief in Lebanon

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has met with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war, the Lebanese movement said Thursday.

In a statement, Hezbollah said Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah "reviewed the latest developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, and... the efforts made to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip".

Amir-Abdollahian, who warned on Wednesday that the war could spiral out of control, left Beirut for Doha after their meeting, Iran's Nour news agency reported. (Read here)

Palestinian official says truce delayed over 'last minute' hostage list details

A Palestinian official told AFP on Thursday a delay in implementation of a truce in the Gaza Strip between Israeli forces and Hamas was due to “last minute” details over which hostages would be released and how. (Read more)

North Gaza's Indonesian hospital has been 'completely evacuated': report

According to a report by Al-Jazeera, the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza has been "completely evacuated" and its volunteers have been moved to Rafah in the south. This comes after the Israeli army gave a four-hour ultimatum to vacate the facility earlier today.

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"The Indonesia Hospital is now empty, and our volunteers have been moved to a school near the European Hospital in Rafah [...] The doctors and the wounded were moved to the European Hospital. Our volunteers are sheltering at a school with thousands of others," Sarbini Abdul Murad, the head of the Indonesian charity Medical Emergency Rescue Committee which funds the hospital, told Al Jazeera.

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An official from Gaza's Health Ministry had told Al Jazeera that nearly 200 patients had remained at the medical facility earlier today, while 450 patients had been evacuation yesterday.

'Not ending war in Gaza', says IDF's Chief of the General Staff

The Guardian reports that Herzi Halevi, IDF's Chief of the General Staff, informed his troops that Israel will not be ending the war in Gaza.

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"We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the goal of this war, to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages. We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing in other Hamas areas," Halevi told brigade commanders inside Gaza.

Israel claims it bombed nearly 300 Hamas sites in Gaza over last 24 hours

About "300 Hamas sites" in the Gaza Strip were targeted by air strikes in the last 24 hours, according to the IDF. Israel claims these included rocket launch locations, ammo storage, subterranean combat tunnels, operational headquarters, and weapon manufacturing facilities.

Israel gives four hours to evacuate Indonesian hospital, say Gaza health officials

According to a report by Al-Jazeera, the Israeli army has warned people in the Indonesian Hospital to evacuate it in four hours.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Gaza’s Health Ministry officials said there is still bombing going on all around the northern Gazan hospital, with nearly 200 patients remaining at the medical facility, following the evacuation of 450 patients yesterday.

UNICEF warns of life-threatening crisis for a million children displaced in Gaza

According to UNICEF, more than 5,300 Palestinian children have been killed in just 46 days and one million children are now food insecure and facing a catastrophic nutrition crisis.

56 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank over the past six weeks and 450,000 children in the region need humanitarian assistance.

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"...that is over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks. Based on these figures, children account for forty per cent of the deaths in Gaza. This is unprecedented. In other words, today, the Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child[...]We are also receiving reports that more than 1,200 children remain under the rubble of bombed-out buildings or are otherwise unaccounted for," UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said.

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"In addition to bombs, rockets, and gunfire, Gaza’s children are at extreme risk from catastrophic living conditions[....]We project that over the next few months, child wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition in children, could increase by nearly 30 per cent in Gaza," Russell added.

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“The war must be brought to an end and the killing and maiming of children must stop immediately.”@unicefchief’s remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on the protection of children in Gaza.

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) November 22, 2023

UN agency heads unite in urgent plea for women and children in Gaza

Women and girls are disproportionately suffering the devastating impacts of the crisis in Gaza.

UN leaders tell Security Council that in this urgent test of humanity, the most vulnerable desperately need peace to prevail. https://t.co/TPP50MyYqi

— United Nations (@UN) November 22, 2023

US says it intercepted attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen

A US warship patrolling the Red Sea intercepted multiple attack drones launched from Huthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Thursday, the US Central Command says. The Huthis have declared themselves part of an "axis of resistance" of Iran's allies and proxies retaliating against Israel's war with Hamas. They seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel on Sunday and have warned they may seize more Red Sea ships.

Hezbollah says son of senior MP among five dead in south Lebanon

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Thursday that five of its fighters, including the son of a senior lawmaker, had been killed, amid skirmishes at the Israel-Lebanon border since the Israel-Hamas war began.

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Abbas Raad, son of the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad, was "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", the group said in a statement -- the phrase it has been using to announce the death of its members due to Israeli fire since the war started on October 7.

It issued separate statements with the identities and photographs of four other fighters who were also killed.

A source close to the family, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told AFP that Abbas Raad "was killed with a number of other Hezbollah members" in an Israeli strike Wednesday on a house in south Lebanon's Beit Yahun.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said Wednesday that "an air strike launched by the Israeli enemy... on a house in Beit Yahun killed four people", but it did not identify the victims.

Israel unveils what it claims is a major Hamas militant hideout beneath Al-Shifa Hospital

Israeli military on Wednesday unveiled what it claimed was a Hamas military facility under Gaza's largest hospital, showing what appeared to be a subterranean dormitory to a group of foreign journalists who were given a rare glimpse inside the besieged enclave.

Israel has not yet unveiled this purported centre, but the military portrayed the underground hideout as its most significant discovery yet. Hamas and the hospital administration have denied Israel's accusations.

READ FULL REPORT HERE

Israeli soldiers show the media an underground tunnel found underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (Photo | AP)

Palestinian official says ceasefire delayed over 'last minute' hostage list details

A Palestinian official told AFP that a delay in the implementation of a truce in the Gaza Strip 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.

Al-Shifa doctor says hospital director arrested by Israeli forces

A doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City told AFP that the facility's director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday.

"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 Israeli operation against Hamas following the militants' October 7 attacks. (Read here)

Israel-Hamas truce deal - what we know

Hamas to release 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza over a four-day truce

In return, Israel will release at least 150 Palestinian women and children held as prisoners

For every 10 additional hostages released, Israel will pause fighting for an extra day

Deal includes entry of a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid into Gaza

Israeli surveillance of Gaza to be put on temporary hold during hostage exchange periods

Deal will take effect in stages and mediators hope can be extended and broadened

Hostage release won't take place before Friday

A senior Israeli official has said that the planned exchange of some Palestinians held in Israeli prisons for Israeli hostages in Hamas has been delayed until at least Friday. Multiple news media are reporting that the ceasefire will also be delayed, as well as the hostage deal. READ FULL REPORT HERE

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Israel and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to a four-day cease-fire in the war in Gaza — a diplomatic breakthrough that will free dozens of hostages held by militants as well as Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and bring a large influx of aid to the besieged territory.

Families on both sides grapple with lack of clarity over how releases would unfold

"We don't know who will get out because Hamas will release the names every evening of those who will get out the next day," said Gilad Korngold, whose son and daughter-in-law are being held in Gaza along with their two children and other relatives.

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Israel's list of eligible Palestinian prisoners included 123 detainees under 18 and 33 women, among them Shrouq Dwayyat, convicted of attempted murder in a 2015 knife attack.

"I had hoped that she would come out in a deal," her mother, Sameera Dwayyat, said, but added that her relief was tempered by "great pain in my heart" over the dead children in Gaza.

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In Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, displaced Palestinians remained sceptical about the Israel-Hamas deal.

"What truce are they talking about? We don't need a truce just so aid can come in. We want to go home," said Maysara Assabagh, who fled northern Gaza for a hospital that now shelters about 35,000 displaced people.

Mass burial of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes

Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (Photo | AP)